Det kanske är lite meningen att man ska vidga sina vyer. En undersökning om yrkesförares inställning till läsning och användning av vägkrogsbibliotek.
This Masters thesis is a study of the truck-driver profession and their use of libraries located in gas-stations and restaurants along the highways in Sweden. The reason for this interest is the positive trend that has occurred concerning men without any university education and their reading-habits, that is due to their increased interest in listening to audio books. This challenges the general opinion that this group is not particularly interested in reading literature. Questions posed in this study are: How do the truck-drivers relate to the activity of reading literature, what part does the road-libraries play, and how can the services that the road-libraries offer be improved according to the truck-drivers. The method used in the study is interviews made by telephone. The perspective in the study is mainly the users perspective, but the intention is also to study the occupational group of truck-drivers from a cultural perspective with special focus on gender and masculinity, in order to raise the discussion to a higher level. The result of the examination shows that the truck-drivers have various reading-habits. Somewhat of an underdog identity appeared among some of the truckers when talking of literature. Most liked listening to detective stories, books dealing with historic events, and non-fiction books. The reason given for listening to audio books was education, relaxation and entertainment. The road-libraries and their services have contributed to new connections among the drivers, and can also be said to have helped in the creation of new self-images for the drives. It has also improved the working environment for the drivers.