Varför sagostund? Sagostundsverksamheten på folkbibliotek igår och idag.
The purpose of this Masters thesis is to investigate the reasons for public libraries to have story-time today and also the reasons for story-time at the public library historically in Sweden. Why is the phenomenon of story-time still existing at public libraries today? The study is based on a questionnaire that was sent to childrens librarians in the Västra Götaland region. The material collected in this questionnaire was put together and resulted in six different categories showing the libraries purposes and thoughts of their story-time activities. The categories were: cultural heritage/tradition, joy of reading, language and imagination, library visits, storytelling and mutual experience. The theoretical approach to story-time at the public library included theories of civic and community librarianship in local communities. The results of the study suggest that public libraries with their story-time activities are situated in the point of intersection of the state, the market and the civil society. The concept of story-time is multifaceted and the participating childrens librarians express this activity with many different names such as cultural activities or programs. The results of the study also show that the story-time activity serves as a meeting point as well as a way to developing language, a way to the library itself, a way to literature and to reading.