| Summary: | The subject of this master thesis is the outsourcing of publiclibraries in Sweden. The purpose is to investigate theexperiences and notions that public librarians have of thephenomena of outsourcing public libraries, in relation to theirprofession and professional identity. I also investigate howtheir experiences and notions of the outsourcing of publiclibraries can be understood on a social level using GeirVestheim’s theory of the rationalities that influence culturalpolicy. The study is conducted through qualitative interviewswith six public librarians.The questions asked are: what approaches exist among publiclibrarians when it comes to the outsourcing of public libraries?Are there any connections between these approaches to theoutsourcing of public libraries and the public librarians’ selfexperienceof their professional identity? And how can theseapproaches and professional identities be understood on asocial level with the help of Vestheim’s theory of rationalitiesof cultural policy?My first conclusion is that the debate surrounding theoutsourcing of public libraries in Sweden is reflected in theway that the six interviewed librarians speak of the phenomena,but also that they express greater nuances when discussing it.The issue does not seem to be as binary as the polarized debatewould claim. My second conclusion is that the publiclibrarians’ self-experienced professional identity is notdependent on the library’s organizational form. Finally, I makethe claim that although the six public librarians have differentoutlooks on the phenomena of outsourcing public libraries, theyall share the same view of the library as an upholder ofdemocratic, cultural and social values.
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