What was expressed about the new library law? : A discourse analysis of the referral response to the memorandum of the new library law by the municipal libraries

While libraries are an actively supported institution in Sweden there is no distinct notion on of what their purpose should be. The purpose of this thesis is to clarify the discourse expressed in the referral responses to the memo-randum of the new library law, regarding the purpose and task of the public libraries in Sweden. The source material for my thesis was the memorandum sent out by the government during the process of introducing the new library law. I chose to use this memorandum and the municipal libraries’ referral responses on this memorandum as my source material. The thesis is based on discourse analytical theory focusing on discursive formations. In this theory, the discourse on a theme of discussion consists of various discourse formations that together form a common discoue. In order to distinguish these discursive formations, it is necessary to study the texts and examine their empirical foundations. In terms of methodology, this means that I related the municipal responses to four different concepts. These concepts were: "activities", "media", "users" and "librarians". Then I analysed these results in connection with previous research in order to define the different discursive formations I could discern. The seven discursive formations identified are: the educational discursive formation, the discursive formation of the library as the meeting place, the discursive formation of the physical activities of the libraries, the inclusive discursive formation, the cultural and information-mediated discursive formation, the democratic discursive for-mation, the discursive formation around the library's organization. These discursive formations are based on the specific themes they focus on. At the same time, two ongoing themes were identified for the discourse as a whole. The first theme is based on an emphasis on user accessibility and inclusion, as well as on equal communication between users and libraries. The second theme is based on an emphasis on equal treatment between different types of media and a negative attitude to the fact that printed literature was being given a special position in the libraries' activities in the memorandum