The School Library - a different room : A study exploring how high school students perceive their school library as a physical environment

This bachelor thesis explores why students in high school visit their school library and how they perceive the physical environment of the school library as a space. An interview study, including both individual and group interviews, were conducted with students visiting the school library. The results from the interviews where then analysed, organised and presented using the Four Spaces model, a model originally constructed by Henrik Jochumsen, Casper Hvenegaard Rasmussen & Dorte Skot-Hansen (2012) that explores user needs and behaviour illustrated by different “spaces” related to public libraries and how they correspond with library purposes. Interpretations of the results were also based on a theoretical perspective based on “situated learning” as perceived by Roger Säljö (2000). The results show that the students use their school library based on two main purposes, leisure activities (hanging out with friends or alone on breaks and free periods), and for studies: both on your own and in smaller groups. The results also show how students perceive the school library as a different space, something different from the classrooms or other more “public” spaces provided within the school building such as study rooms and recess areas, with its own atmosphere/mood, and (unwritten) rules. The thesis emphasizes features in the school library appreciated and used by the students and how these issues might be relevant for further discussions about the school library as a space, both concerning design and content, as a part of the general function of the school library as a pedagogical resource