“Det ska ju vara för alla” : Indirekt litteraturförmedling för barn i biblioteksrummet

Sammanfattning

The aim of this study is to gain knowledge about library employees' views on children's reading in relation to the work of making children's literature visible in the physical library space. The study has a qualitative approach and is based on semi-structured interviews with five library employees at public libraries. Their descriptions of the work to make children's literature visible were analyzed using thematic analysis and then interpreted in relation to three different concepts of perspectives on children's reading. Four central themes emerged from the analysis: children's interests and independence, external influence, democracy, and the effort to stimulate reading. The library staff use different strategies to facilitate children's ability to find and make their own choices, while at the same time they are influenced by, for example, current events, cooperation with schools and adults' norms in their work. The analysis shows that an emancipatory approach dominates, with a focus on children's interests, free choice and independence, but that this often coexists with a pragmatic approach where reading is linked to language development and community participation. The study contributes to knowledge of how the view of children's reading is expressed in practical library work and highlights the tensions and trade-offs that characterize the work with indirect literature mediation.