”Bibliotekarier är någon slags pixis som bara flyger omkring och gör härliga saker” : Hur skolbibliotekarier ser på och formar sin professionella roll

Sammanfattning

Introduction. This master’s thesis studies how school librarians perceive and form their professional role. The study also examines how different factors can strengthen or undermine school librarians’ professional legitimacy. Librarians from both elementary and high schools have participated in the study as the informants. The background to this study is the revised school law, which defines what a school library is and stipulates that all students have a right to staffed school libraries. Method. The method in this study consists of semi-structured interviews with 12 interviewees. All the informants work in Stockholm County. The interviews were audio-recorded and transcribed, which forms the foundational data for the analysis. Analysis. The method for analyzing the collected qualitative data was thematic analysis, specifically Alvinius et.al’s model. The theories applied to the analysis were a theory of professions and role theory. Results. The school librarians view their professional role as an information-literacy and media specialist but also emphasize their role as a pedagogical resource. The school librarian is often viewed as something in between a teacher and other school staff, experiencing a sense of in-betweenness. Factors that can both work to strengthen and/or undermine the school librarian’s professional legitimacy are the revised school law, the school board’s perception of the profession and the relationship between the school librarian and teachers and students. Conclusion. Our study suggests a knowledge gap in the perceptions of the school librarian’s profession among teachers and the school board. Compared to other professions within the school, the school librarians have a relatively weak jurisdiction over their work tasks. Both these factors can cause role conflicts or role ambiguity for the school librarians’ profession. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.