Biblioteksservice till interner ? En fallstudie av hur nationella och internationella riktlinjer relaterar till biblioteksservicen till intagna på kriminalvårdsanstalten i Haparanda
The aim of this essay is to investigate how national and international guidelines relate to library services to prisoners in Sweden and to further illuminate this through a comparison with some examples from a few European countries. The essay examines what rights to library services Swedish prisoners are given in law, what national and international guidelines say, what demands are placed on the librarian in the form of education and suitability, what economical resources exist to realise library services to prisoners, what measures are taken to provide for language minorities, and how the security aspect is handled when it comes to computers and information technologies. The information has been obtained through interviews as well as through studies of books, articles and conference proceedings. The essay includes a small case study of how library services are provided for prisoners in Haparanda. Findings point to a gap between the goals that are presented in national and international guidelines and how the library services to prisoners function in reality.