TY - CONF

T1 - Social Reading and the Public Sphere in Nordic Public Libraries: A Comparative Study

AU - Jochumsen, Henrik

AU - Rydbeck, Kerstin

AU - Johnston, Jamie

AU - Pálsdóttir, Ágústa

AU - Khosrowjerdi, Mahmood

AU - Vårheim, Andreas

AU - Audunson, Ragnar

AU - Rasmussen, Casper Hvenegaard

N1 - Rydbeck, K., Johnston, J., Pálsdóttir, Á., Khosrowjerdi, M., Vårheim, A., Audunson, R., Hvenegaard Rasmussen, C., & Jochumsen, H. (2022). Social reading and the public sphere in Nordic public libraries: a comparative study. In Proceedings of CoLIS, the 11th. International Conference on Conceptions of Library and Information Science, Oslo, Norway, May29 - June 1, 2022. Information Research, 27(Special issue), paper colis2234. Retrieved from http://InformationR.net/ir/27-SpIssue/CoLIS2022/colis2234.html https://doi.org/10.47989/colis2234

PY - 2022

Y1 - 2022

N2 - Introduction This paper presents research on how public librarians in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden view the importance of social reading and related professional roles. Method Previous research findings from a questionnaire administered to public librarians are analysed in depth in order to identify trends that can be further investigated in a subsequent qualitative study.Analysis The previous findings broadly show variation in the importance of social reading activities and related professional roles at the country level. A detailed understanding of the variations are elicited through a more comprehensive analysis at the country and community levels.Results Social reading is more important in larger communities in Iceland and Sweden and smaller communities in Denmark and Norway. The role of literary mediator appears to correspond highly to librarians' professional role across all countries and community sizes whereas that of literary critic somewhat less. Conclusion The results establish a need for further research on social reading in public libraries and provide a basis and direction for continued research, specifically to gain insight into the types and nature of activities generally included in social reading and the extent digital solutions are used.

AB - Introduction This paper presents research on how public librarians in Denmark, Iceland, Norway and Sweden view the importance of social reading and related professional roles. Method Previous research findings from a questionnaire administered to public librarians are analysed in depth in order to identify trends that can be further investigated in a subsequent qualitative study.Analysis The previous findings broadly show variation in the importance of social reading activities and related professional roles at the country level. A detailed understanding of the variations are elicited through a more comprehensive analysis at the country and community levels.Results Social reading is more important in larger communities in Iceland and Sweden and smaller communities in Denmark and Norway. The role of literary mediator appears to correspond highly to librarians' professional role across all countries and community sizes whereas that of literary critic somewhat less. Conclusion The results establish a need for further research on social reading in public libraries and provide a basis and direction for continued research, specifically to gain insight into the types and nature of activities generally included in social reading and the extent digital solutions are used.

KW - Faculty of Humanities

KW - Libraries

KW - Reading

KW - Social Reading

U2 - 10.47989/colis2234

DO - 10.47989/colis2234

M3 - Paper

SP - paper colis2234

Y2 - 29 May 2022 through 1 June 2022

ER -