Music and the public library : a study of the music activity of the public libraries around the city of Borås.

The purpose of the master thesis was to reflect and analyze music library activities and policies in the public libraries in the area around the city of Borås, in the south-western part of Sweden. With this thesis I also wanted to look at the interaction between the public libraries, the music school and the music associations in the same area. To investigate these matters, qualitative method was used in the form of interviews with seven librarians from seven different libraries and five representatives of different local music organizations. Other methods used were observations and source studies. The literature used discusses the role of the music department of public libraries as well as that of a music librarian working in a public library. I have furthermore considered what the national and local culture policy documents say when it comes to promoting peoples access to music through the public library. The interviews showed that the buying and lending of music recordings was a big part of the music service of the libraries that were included in the study. The study also showed that there were clear differences between the respondents views on the role of the music library. Also, I found few examples of interaction between the public libraries and the different music organisations in the same area.Uppsatsnivå: