Teenage boys´ choice of literature to pleasurable reading : how they go about and what motivates - how they view the role of libraries in their choice of literature

Youths is described by the libraries as a group that is hard to reach because they are in between the children´s and the adult section. It creates an insecurity amongst librarians as they lack knowledge of what the youths are interested in reading. The purpose of this thesis is to study teenage boys to get an understanding for what affects their choices of literature. This has led to research questions dealing with what factors that affects them. The reading of teenage boys has been researched for many years and the discussion has been about whether their reading has decreased or increased. To examine what affects their choices of literature, semi structured interviews was held with four read motivated teenage boys between 17 -19 years old. The interviews has been held at two upper secondary schools in western Sweden. In the qualitative content analysis of the empirical material, Aidan Chambers model the reading circle been used. The result has been compared with previous research on how youths choose literature. The teenage boys in this study primarily use the Web for literature tips, but they also get literature tips from friends. The empirics showed that teenage boys preferred different media format when they read. The factors that affected their choices was knowledge, entertainment, escapism and experiences. The teenage boys felt that the library didn’t always have the literature that they were asking for.