?Stå mellan hyllorna och kramas?
bibliotekariers attityder till ungdomars biblioteksanvändning och läsning
The aim of this thesis is to investigate the attitudes of librarians towards young people's approaches to libraries and reading. The study also includes statements of the young as regards their own library usages and reading habits, as well as the attitudes of youth leaders. The latter are compared to the statements of librarians, and serve as referential frameworks. 28 interviews were performed, of which 22 with young people. The interviews and the following discussion were based on five themes; the library as a room, usages of the library, reading habits, the library as an institution, and library changes and developments. The literature studied deals with youth culture, generations, young people's spare time occupations, the professional roles of librarians and youth leaders, and, finally, the attitudes of young people towards libraries together with the attitudes of librarians towards young people. The opinions of librarians deviate from those of the youth leaders, and to an even higher degree from those of the young people, as expressed in their interview responses. The differences are ascribed to the fact that the library represents a bourgeois, traditional, disciplinary world, whereas the youth club is characterized as expressive, impulsive, and chaotic. The description of the latter touches upon the very narcissism and expressiveness as features of youth culture, attractive to young people. The professional roles of youth leaders and librarians exhibit points of similarity as well as difference. The relatively higher social standing of the librarians is considered as a contributing factor to the librarians', to some extent, dissociating themselves from the youth club. The generational differences between librarians and young people are also important as regards the inability of the librarians to accommodate library changes to the young.