Får boken en plats på biblioteket? : En studie kring folkbibliotekens förvärvspolicy och demokratiska uppdrag
(2023) ABMM54 20231Division of ALM and Digital Cultures
- Abstract
- The purpose of this master’s thesis is to investigate how librarians at public libraries relate to guidelines and governing documents when it comes to acquisition of materials that can be perceived as controversial, and how they think and act in cases where such difficult decisions about acquisitions must be made. Considering paragraph 2 of the Swedish library act which states that: “libraries in the public library system shall promote the development of democratic society by contributing to the transfer of knowledge and the free formation of opinions”, certain dilemmas and challenges may arise in the librarian’s work when acquiring books and other materials which in some ways can be perceived as offensive. Knowing exactly where the limits... (More)
- The purpose of this master’s thesis is to investigate how librarians at public libraries relate to guidelines and governing documents when it comes to acquisition of materials that can be perceived as controversial, and how they think and act in cases where such difficult decisions about acquisitions must be made. Considering paragraph 2 of the Swedish library act which states that: “libraries in the public library system shall promote the development of democratic society by contributing to the transfer of knowledge and the free formation of opinions”, certain dilemmas and challenges may arise in the librarian’s work when acquiring books and other materials which in some ways can be perceived as offensive. Knowing exactly where the limits are for something to be seen as controversial and what violates the human rights can at times be difficult for public librarians to distinguish. The purpose of this thesis is thus to also investigate whether the librarians recognize themselves in this and what they think about the clarity of their guidelines. Using semi-structured interviews as a method, 9 different librarians participated in the study during 6 different interview occasions that took place in southern Sweden. The theoretical input used during the analysis is the theory of new institutionalism. The results show that all the librarians who participated in the study are satisfied with the guidelines and governing documents they have regarding acquisitions, and many of them explains that it is difficult to make guidelines clearer because of the many cases that can appear regarding books that differ from each other. If there is uncertainty or problems with decisions regarding acquisitions, they are discussing the issue with their colleagues. They do a lot of research on certain books that they are unsure of, and don’t buy books that are self-published or lack authenticity and factuality. Furthermore, the free expression of opinion is important for all librarians, and that everyone have the possibility to form their own apprehension. In this way, it is important to have a broad collection in the library, and that it is allowed to show opinions from different sides, even if it can be seen as controversial by many people. As long as books and other materials are not directly criminal, they should be given the chance to be in the library’s collection. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9119577
- author
- Simonsson, Emelie LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- ABMM54 20231
- year
- 2023
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- Public libraries, guidelines, governing documents, democracy, controversial literature, Folkbibliotek, riktlinjer, styrdokument, demokrati, kontroversiell litteratur
- language
- Swedish
- id
- 9119577
- date added to LUP
- 2023-06-21 09:16:39
- date last changed
- 2023-06-21 09:16:39
@misc{9119577,
abstract = {{The purpose of this master’s thesis is to investigate how librarians at public libraries relate to guidelines and governing documents when it comes to acquisition of materials that can be perceived as controversial, and how they think and act in cases where such difficult decisions about acquisitions must be made. Considering paragraph 2 of the Swedish library act which states that: “libraries in the public library system shall promote the development of democratic society by contributing to the transfer of knowledge and the free formation of opinions”, certain dilemmas and challenges may arise in the librarian’s work when acquiring books and other materials which in some ways can be perceived as offensive. Knowing exactly where the limits are for something to be seen as controversial and what violates the human rights can at times be difficult for public librarians to distinguish. The purpose of this thesis is thus to also investigate whether the librarians recognize themselves in this and what they think about the clarity of their guidelines. Using semi-structured interviews as a method, 9 different librarians participated in the study during 6 different interview occasions that took place in southern Sweden. The theoretical input used during the analysis is the theory of new institutionalism. The results show that all the librarians who participated in the study are satisfied with the guidelines and governing documents they have regarding acquisitions, and many of them explains that it is difficult to make guidelines clearer because of the many cases that can appear regarding books that differ from each other. If there is uncertainty or problems with decisions regarding acquisitions, they are discussing the issue with their colleagues. They do a lot of research on certain books that they are unsure of, and don’t buy books that are self-published or lack authenticity and factuality. Furthermore, the free expression of opinion is important for all librarians, and that everyone have the possibility to form their own apprehension. In this way, it is important to have a broad collection in the library, and that it is allowed to show opinions from different sides, even if it can be seen as controversial by many people. As long as books and other materials are not directly criminal, they should be given the chance to be in the library’s collection.}},
author = {{Simonsson, Emelie}},
language = {{swe}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Får boken en plats på biblioteket? : En studie kring folkbibliotekens förvärvspolicy och demokratiska uppdrag}},
year = {{2023}},
}