The aim of this Masters thesis is to examine the importance of public libraries for individuals in their everyday life and to study the differences in views between the individuals. Questions posed in this study are: What do public libraries mean to individuals? Which differences between individuals views of the public library are to be found? What is the reason for differences to occur? The analysis is based upon qualitative interviews with six persons, four women and two men between 31 and 55 years of age. The theoretical starting points are Anderson and Skot-Hansens theory of four different roles of public libraries and Bourdieus theory of lifestyle. The study acts on a hermeneutic attitude.

The main focal point of this study is about public libraries and its possible roles in today's society. Going from having had a clear educational orientation, public libraries has with time amassed several other roles, which all need to relate to the swedish law regarding libraries and other governing documents, as well as business plans. This thesis focus on a qualitative investigation, which was conducted through in-depth interviews with librarians and other staff at a public library in Stockholm, named bibliotek Plattan, to ascertain the prevailing opinions within this facility about the role of libraries and librarians. The choice of examine this particular library was based on the fact that bibliotek Plattan differs from the public library in general and only offers material for adults. Their collection of litterature is primarily based on fiction novels.

The Public Sector Scorecard (PSS) is a younger version of the balanced scorecard, created for public and nonprofit organizations. The latest model of PSS is divided into three main groups and seven perspectives, while the balanced scorecard consists of four perspectives. Organizations who use either PSS or the balanced scorecard are supposed to have a clear vision spread all over the unit. This study has sought differences between the two models of financial control in both theory and practice. The first part of the study is a theoretical comparison between the models? structures and terms used in them.

In May 2008, the Swedish Government proclaimed several proposals in order to increase the status of the teaching profession. One of the proposals was that each teacher should be obligated to obtain a "teaching license" to be allowed to teach. The license/certification will guarantee that the teacher has the sufficient knowledge of pedagogy and subject obtained from University. The existing teachers who do not hold a proper certification today will be given a certain time period to attain one. The teachers that are certificated teachers but that are giving lessons in subjects not certificated in will be given a chance to obtain the proper knowledge of the subject.

The purpose of this masters thesis is to examine the arguments that are being used when closing and establishing peoples libraries. During the 90:ies, in the community of Gothenburg, 4 public libraries were closed and another 3 public libraries were opened. A possible reason for this change lies in the reform from the city Committee that split the community of Gothenburg into 21 pieces; all with one centrally appointed political Committee. The library activity has since the reform was implemented got worse in some areas, foremost in the already neglected city sections, and better in some areas, which where able to establish new libraries. Argumentation analysis indicates that the arguments used at closure where mainly economical and neither the number nor relevance and validity of the arguments where good.

This paper deals with Iraqis in the Swedish labour market. The main goal was to point out on positive aspects of the Swedish labour market integration. Previous studies were mostly problem oriented on immigrants? situation in finding a job, especially when related to immigrant from non-European countries. Instead this study is focused on the more positive aspects.

This paper intends to provide a better understanding of how to rebuild a crisis affected area and how to plan for the inhabitants of a wounded city. It will also examine the landscape architect's tasks in this work to provide a planning perspective. The discussion of reconstruction is significant because the insight and knowledge in the subject is needed in order to help nations after a disaster. Bosnia-Herzegovina's capital Sarajevo is a city recovering from a civil war where the city's situation was complicated by an ethnic conflict that has been segregating it. The restoration of the city's structure can free people from their tragedy and make them live again.

This Master's thesis concerns the public library as a public meeting place. Our aim has been to find out why and how the library as a social meeting place has been discussed within the Swedish library community and if there has been a constant core in the discussions from the mid 70's and up to the present day. In order to do this we apply a place and space-perspective. The result of the study is that the core of the said discussions concerning the library as a meeting place is to create belongingness. This is the reason why the library community has an interest in the public library's function as a meeting place with the idea that people, by using the public library in that aspect, may experience a feeling of belonging to the society.

The river Selångersån runs through thenorthern Swedish city of Sundsvall, splittingthe city in two as it winds through thevalley between Södra- and Norra Stadsbergetand out into the Baltic Sea.The river is a national interest of nature conservationbut at the same time in the middleof an urban development string for the city,creating a complex situation of developmentcontra conservation of natural environment.This project attempts to create a strategy oflandscape urbanism for the area surroundingSelånger Bay, four kilometers upstreamalong Selångersån. A sensitive wetland, todayrather forgotten but with great potentialfor introducing wild nature as an active partof the city. Or rather, initiating a processwhere the built environment can infiltrateand enrich the natural environment gradually.A city park in this location to initiate thisprocess could be a joint project of the city?sresidents with the scope to become a projectin constant development.The idea of the project is to offer a large ecologicalpark and meeting place near the citycenter. This will be achieved by clarifyingthe activities and values that already existin the park, such as the largest living deltai the region, football fields and a medievalchurch ruin, and by creating new paths.

This study is about differences in knowledge regarding animals. In the study five year old preschool children from a city were compared to five year old preschool children in the suburbs with multicultural background. The study is also about where children´s knowledge about animals comes from and how educators can make a positive difference. To find this out standardized interviews was used on 23 children from four different preschools, two preschools in the suburbs with 15 children and two preschools in the city with 13 children. A survey was sent out to the educators within these preschools to gather background information on what the children do regarding animals.

This Master thesis is about how to involve young people in a creative process. The aim is to see what methods can be applied to make them reach the kind of knowledge they need to be able to contribute to the creation of a memorial place. Issues such as if a place that displays death has a right to exist in an urban environment or why young people should be involved in the creative process are brought up and discussed in this thesis.The memorial place that the young people contribute to is unique, in some sense, due to it not commemorating any special event or person. The purpose of the memorial is rather to serve the public when larger catastrophes occur or to serve individuals who do not have a grave they can visit to commemorate their loved ones. The idea is to place the memorial in an urban setting in the city of Borås.In this thesis the process that the young people participate in is reported in a form similar to a diary where the reader can follow the developments of the young participants, from how they gain knowledge to how they develop their ideas.

Purpose: The purpose of the study reported in this thesis is to addto the knowledge concerning what public librarians do to meet theneeds of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, thereby helpingthem to develop and establish themselves in a new environment.What tasks, activities and tools do the librarians have at theirdisposal? What problems do they encounter? What values, normsand attitudes guide their work? Method: The thoughts andexperiences of six public librarians have been captured throughqualitative semi-structured interviews, the result of which has beenthematically analysed using notions of social capital and socialexclusion. Findings: Unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors facea number of challenges which the public library with its librarians,collections and various activities can assist in coping with byproviding the children with opportunities to increase their socialcapital and decrease the risk of social exclusion. Researchlimitations: It has for several reasons proven difficult to studyunaccompanied asylum-seeking children as a distinct group, whichis why this study also uses material that deals with refugees as awhole. A significant amount of the latter are undeniablyunaccompanied minors, an especially exposed and vulnerable typeof refugees.

The purpose of the thesis is to describe the developing of the branch libraries of the public library of Kristianstad between the years of 1967 and 1977. The municipality of Kristianstad was grounded by a unification of the city of Kristianstad and ten small municipalities. The fusion takes place in three different stages during the years of 1967, 1971 and 1974. The first stage included the city of Kristianstad and the municipalities of Araslöv, Nosaby, Träne and Vä. The municipality of Araslöv got free small villages and village of Färlöv was the biggest one.

The study's aim was to increase knowledge about the resistance of the Muslim religious expressions in the public sphere and its emergence on the basis of the case around the opposition to call for prayer. The study was conducted through the use of the qualitative research approach through interviews with informants who have a pronounced aversion regarding the existence of the public call to prayer in Sweden. The study's questions have been answered by an analysis of the empirical material by using different theoretical points that illustrate how Western standards are valued higher than the other, in the various standard systems. The view of the Muslim religious practices depicted by informants through an interpretative framework that is characterized by Islamophobic arguments that are considered to be incompatible with Western culture and the principles of the secular state striving. Such discourses can create an uneven distribution of power between Muslims and non-Muslims on the basis of the West's representations of Orientalism explained based in ethnocentric knowledge.

?What is happening with open public space?? and ?Why is it happening now?? are the twooverarching questions in this master thesis. In the essay the concept of ?offentligt rum? (openpublic space) is defined as an exterior place accessible to the general public, such as squares,parks and streets. I have, based on the issues, identified the trends and tendencies of openpublic space in Sweden.The study consists of three sections.