Vem styr biblioteket? en undersökning av en kommuns folkbibliotek under en tioårsperiod
The main purpose of this master's thesis is to investigate to what extent municipal politicians govern a selected public library. This means to clarify who determines the direction of the library and its services and in what way. It also involves examining the relationship between library staff and local politicians in the decision-making process. Which decisions are made by the politicians and which are left to the employees? The study is based on an investigation of a public library in a municipality over a period of ten years the 1990s. The method used is an analysis of sources. The minutes of the municipal council and those of the board with responsibility for issues relating to the library have been studied. The theoretical starting points are the roles of the politicians and of the administrators in managing public services. The results of the study show that politicians have largely made decisions on practical matters. Budget proposals and activity plans are usually simple, although there are exceptions. The policy documents are brief and vaguely formulated. The results indicate that members of library staff have had to make decisions on issues of a more difficult nature, such as the content of library services and priorities among different groups. The library manager has been involved in some decisions. The conclusion must be that the local politicians in this municipality have not governed the public library to any significant extent. This implies that some of the decision-making processes have been transferred to the library staff.