Barnbiblioteksverksamhet i Norrbottens glesbygd med Barnkonventionen som utgångspunkt
The purpose of this master thesis is both to interpret the articles of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child from a public library point of view and to investigate how childrens librarians in the county of Norrbotten view their working situation in their relation to the users. This purpose leads to the main question: How do the childrens librarians and the childrens library consultant describe the present and the future of the childrens library activities in the sparsely populated regions in the county of Norrbotten? The subquestions are: What articles from the Childrens Rights Convention are the most relevant for the public library? In what way can you notice the Childrens Rights in the way the childrens librarians work towards the users? What part of the childrens library activity is the most important according to the childrens librarians and the childrens library consultant? The thesis is based on qualitative interviews with childrens librarians and the childrens library consultant of Norrbotten and field observations. The result of the study shows that the articles we found most relevant for the public library are 2, 3, 6, 12, 13, 14, 17, 23, 28/29, 30, 31 and 42. The Childrens Rights can be noticed in several ways in the childrens library activities. The best interest of the child is among other things the access to literature and presence of a childrens librarian. One of the main priorities for the childrens librarians is language development and the mediation of literature. The children are shown respect in the way the staff greets them and listens to their views, and in the way the media are exposed in the childrens library department. Childrens librarians can help the child to develop by giving her/him access to information from different sources and letting him/her be part of the development of the library and by the librarians work with language development.