"go to the library and you will get help" : A phenomenographic study of how the digitalization of society has come to affect the daily work of the librarian when interacting with patrons

In this bachelor thesis, we examine six public librarian’s perception and experiences of the phenomena of the digitalization of society. The study aims to raise a voice as to how this has affected them in their daily work in the library when in contact with patrons. Three main questions were posed in this study: What are the consequences for library staff who have been affected in their everyday life by the digitalization of society, and how does this affect the library staff over time? How does this digitalization impact the librarians required skills in their everyday life? The method used for this thesis is qualitative recorded interviews with public librarians who all have a long experience of working in public libraries. The theory is based on phenomenography, a model developed by Ference Marton that aims to understand the differences in experiencing a phenomenon. The results show two significant categories: responsibility and skills. The librarian perceives a role of being a service desk responsible to other authorities, when local offices are shut down and are only accessible via the Internet. In comparison, over time, this makes the librarian responsible for a lot more private information today, as E-authorities send customers to the library to get help with bank errands and filling out forms. The participating librarians ask themselves if this really is their job to do, while at the same time, feeling the responsibility to help the patrons in any way they can. When it comes to the patrons’ digital skills, the librarians see that the knowledge has changed from what was formerly, a collective lack of knowledge to what is presently, a more individual knowledge. This also affects the librarian’s own skills and is a challenge to handle the different devices that the patrons bring. It seems like the work is more of a technical challenge than coping with digital literacy skills. Librarians would like national guidelines, setting some limits of their responsibilities. Ongoing digital literacy projects, educating patrons in need of help are considered valuable resources