Att välja och att välja bort
En kvalitativ studie av hur barnbibliotekarier motiverar sina inköp av barn- och ungdomslitteratur
The purpose of this thesis is to investigate how childrens librarians at public libraries motivate their selection and their purchases of fiction for children and youth. The aim is also to find out what is felt like a problem at the selection process and what is not. Six childrens librarians have been interviewed in this qualitative study. On a basis of a theory of literature pedagogic perspectives the librarians were asked how they look upon purchase of fairy-tales, classics, pulpliterature and literature that contributes to the debate about man and society. They were also asked about their opinions of Bibliotekstjänst, of criticism of childrens books and how they reason about their purchases in general. These views are discussed in relation to earlier research. The interviewed librarians look very positively at the purchase of literature that contributes to the debate about man and society. They are also positive to buying fairy-tales and classics but the purchases are diminished by little demand for these books. Purchase of pulpliterature is the least important among these four different types of books. Some librarians buy them and some dont. Arguments both for and against buying them are expressed. The greatest problems about Bibliotekstjänst are the long delivery time and that the purchases are ruled by their reviews too much. Reviews of childrens books in newspapers and journals are of less importance since they are too few and are published too late. Examples of how the librarians reason about their purchases in general are that they have no problems buying books which get mediocre criticism, they want to keep the breadth of the collection of books and they dont mind buying books described as thick and complicated.