"Biblioteken ser vi som en positiv verksamhet" - en studie om styrning av folkbibliotek i fem svenska kommuner

The aim of this study is to explain and analyse political steering of public libraries in Swedish municipalities and the roles of politicians and administrators in this process. To fulfil this purpose five municipalities have been studied. It is argued that both politicians and administration have to be included in a study of steering and that the relation between politicians and administrators should be seen as an interplay. Planning and evaluation are discerned as the two main activities in the steering process. The material in this study consists mainly of information collected through interviews with library responsible politicians and library managers in all five municipalities. The results show that libraries are considered politically uncontroversial and that politicians see little need for political interference and steering. The delegation of power to the administration is, and should be, large and the influence of politically framed objectives is mostly weak. The great administrative power is occasionally questioned but, somewhat surprisingly, mainly by the library managers. The politicians are generally satisfied with their role and the political steering whereas the library managers seak a larger political knowledge, participation and engagement