This master?s thesis deals with the issue of children?s theatre at the public library. I want to examine what purpose children?s theatre play for the children according to the children?s librarians, what different factors that may influence the purchase of plays to the public library and what the children?s librarians think of the children?s theatre at the public library at present and in the future. Interviews have been conducted with four children?s librarians, at different libraries, who are somehow involved in the purchase of children?s plays to the library.

The purpose of this thesis is to describe and understand the existing factors behind the selection of foreign newspapers in Swedish public libraries. We wanted to study this subject because the political situation in many countries is reflected in the newspapers and can cause difficulties in the selection process. Examples of this can be how to avoid newspapers with political propaganda and with censored content. Another reason for our interest in this subject is based on our prejudice that newspapers from other countries are important for people with foreign background. To answer the question we have conducted qualitative interviews with five persons who are responsible for the purchase of foreign newspapers at four libraries.

This master?s degree thesis stems from the new possibilities that digitization offers preserving and increased public accessibility of our cultural heritage, but also how a lack of co-ordination and standardization may result in short-term projects and lack of quality. The purpose of this thesis is to examine a selection of public libraries? digitization projects. The two questions posed are:How does a selection of public libraries conduct their digitization projects concerning a) goals and objectives, b) execution c) what resources they encompass?How well does their work agree with the recommendations that exists for goals, objectives and execution?To answer the questions interviews were conducted with persons in various ways involved with the digitization projects.

The aim of this Master thesis is to study the public libraries' function as a place for people to meet. Four major questions are taken up: + Do the public libraries have the function of a meeting place? + How important do the librarians and the visitors find the libraries possible function as a meeting place? Do they think that this function is important? + What differs the public libraries from other places in society when it comes to the function of a meeting place? + What differences are there between a larger and a smaller library when it comes to the function of a meeting place ? The basis of this study are interviews with employees at a province library in Jönköping and at a smaller library in Sjöbo in Borås municipality. Our study deals with the history of public libraries, its functions as a meeting place, its architecture, culture, and statistics concerning numbers of visitors and loans of books. The conclusions that are drawn are that the public libraries have qualifications to function as a meeting place even if that isn't always the case.

We studied the understanding of public librarians of the required qualifications for a public librarian, what these qualifications embody and how they should be used, and if there are any differences between geographic regions. We also compared our results to the Library Code, which describes the responsibilities of the public libraries. To complete our study, we interviewed fourteen public librarians at eight different public libraries located in both urban and rural areas in Sweden. Our results showed that even though the qualifications specified by the Library Code were identical, they were emphasized and used differently by the public libraries included in our study. This illustrates that the public libraries prioritize and focus differently on the various aspects of the Library Code.

This Masters thesis concerns computer games in Swedish public libraries. We have investigated the opinions of public librarians concerning what they think about computer games, and to what extent they believe it should be a part of the public library. The method we have chosen is qualitative interviews. The theory we have used is a pedagogical literature strategy, which we have reformulated so that it fits our investigation. The results show that the interviewed public librarians think that the library should offer computer games for children and youths to use at the library, and that they should offer computer games for lending, to all the library users.

Internet access has been a part of the range in public libraries for approximately a decade. The Swedish municipals, in charge of the public libraries, and the libraries themselves, have a great deal of saying in how they should be run, what to offer the public, how many hours they have to stay open etcetera. The Library law is very vague on many things, including public Internet access. Even though Sweden is ranked as first runner up worldwide when it comes to Internet penetration among the population (Internet World Stats 2007), approximately twenty percent in the 16-74 age group does not have Internet access at home, at work or at school (SCB 2006a). In this master thesis we try to determine, through personal interviews, how six of those in charge feel about Internet at their libraries, all located in medium-sized municipals (20 000 ? 40 000 inhabitants), why they have chosen the rules and regulations they have and their thoughts about what they consider to be the most important assignment of public libraries.

The purpose of the master thesis was to reflect and analyze music library activities and policies in the public libraries in the area around the city of Borås, in the south-western part of Sweden. With this thesis I also wanted to look at the interaction between the public libraries, the music school and the music associations in the same area. To investigate these matters, qualitative method was used in the form of interviews with seven librarians from seven different libraries and five representatives of different local music organizations. Other methods used were observations and source studies. The literature used discusses the role of the music department of public libraries as well as that of a music librarian working in a public library.

This master thesis was written in the purpose to study how the location and access to computers in the physical realm of the public library reflects the undergoing changes in the public libraries role in Swedish society. This study is done in a form of a case study of three small public libraries. All of them were in the process of transforming both their physical and virtual space. The thesis focuses on where in the library the computers are placed and how their location interacts with the libraries main tasks. It also focuses on the analysis of the relationship between these two elements and how that relationship reflects the alteration of the public libraries place in society.

The aim of this thesis is to study how librarians in Swedish libraries perceive the task of mediating fiction. What are the librarians private relationships to fiction and how do they perceive the position of fiction in contemporary society? What views have they developed of the borrowers approach to fiction and how do they perceive the borrowers increasing influence in the library? How do librarians prioritise and which principles form the basis for their purchase of fiction? How do they categorise fiction in the library and how much do economic and political factors influence the decision making process for the purchase of fiction? Finally, how do they define their roles as mediators of fiction and which strategies do they adopt to communicate which literature the library has to offer? The material used in this study was acquired using a qualitative interview technique in which six librarians with experience of literature mediation partook..

The aim of this Master?s thesis is to examine attitudes and standpoints amongst librarians at the Swedish public library towards literary awards and awarded literature. The questions posed in the study are: What attitudes are expressed amongst these librarians towards the Nobel Prize in literature, the August Prize and literary awards and awarded literature in general? What significance do the Nobel Prize in literature, the August Prize and other literary awards have concerning purchase and display at these public libraries? How is awarded literature perceived and how do they talk about it concerning quality and are questions of quality significant? Qualitative interviews with seven librarians at four different public libraries have been done. Theories regarding J?rgen Habermas the bourgeois public sphere and Pierre Bourdieu?s terms habitus, field and capital have been used as to explain the library as a public sphere.

This study investigates the use of the social network Facebook among 67 Swedish libraries; 27 academic libraries and 40 public libraries. Data is collected through an analysis of the libraries? Facebook pages and through an email survey. To analyze the data, a series of statistical analyses were performed.The results indicate that the public libraries more actively posted Facebook updates than the academic libraries and that the libraries that had a policy for use of Facebook/social media more actively posted updates than those libraries that did not have such policy. The libraries use Facebook mainly to post links and photos and to announce events, provide book recommendations, and to emphasize special occasions.

The aim of this thesis is to describe and analyse the development of libraries on Tjörn, an island on the Swedish west coast. I have divided the thesis in two parts, one in which I will describe the libraries development between the years 1873 to 1952 in the municipality of Stenkyrka and one in which I will describe the libraries development between the years 1976 and 1985 in the municipality of Tjörn. The study is mainly based on written materials and a theoretic model will also be used in which I apply three factors, society, the libraries economy and individual actors on the library activity. The libraries in Stenkyrka during the early period were dependent of public grant from the state for their survival and the libraries were undeveloped. The society around them was poor and hardly any money or assistants came from the municipality.

The purpose of this Master?s thesis is to describe how Swedish public libraries use Web 2.0-tools and their experiences of using the tools. Focus of the study lies in the contact between public libraries and their patrons on the Web 2.0-tools. For the purposes of the study, the use of weblogs and MySpace were chosen for examination. The methodology used for this study was qualitative interviews.

The aim of this thesis is to investigate the reason behind thedecision to open libraries at subway stations in Stockholm.The theoretical framework for the study is Douglas Raber´s threeideologies, social activism, conservative response and populistinitiative. The study includes interviews with librarians and apolitician responsible for the service and documents with plansfor the Public Libraries development during the period. Theempirical material was examined with an idea- and ideologicalanalysis.The conclusion is that the concept of the subway libraries consistsof a combination of the three ideologies but the most evidentare those of populist initiative and social activism.The reason for opening libraries at subway stations is to makethe libraries more easily accessible, to attract new visitors and tomake the Public Libraries service more visible. These smalllibraries have a function as a market place for the Public Librariesand as a meeting place in the city..