Librarians’ work with cognitive accessibility in marketing and communication : An interview study.

The aim of the thesis is to gather knowledge about how public libraries work with cognitive accessibility in marketing and communication activities and to investigate opportunities for knowledge sharing. Users with disabilities are a priority group for public libraries, but research on working methods is lacking. The result therefore carries both scientific and societal relevance. The research questions are: How do librarians describe the abilities they have and the conditions they need to communicate in an accessible way? How do librarians view the possibilities of making their work useful in a broader context, for other librarians? The study is based on four interviews with staff from four public libraries with a work in progress to improve accessibility in their communication. The result was analysed through the theoretical framework of relationship marketing (Gummesson) and access to information (Buckland). The result shows that important priorities for management are to provide time and resources for knowledge acquisition. Internal as well as external collaborations have been initiated, but the librarians want primarily to develop cooperation with people in the target group, which has not been done sufficiently so far. The participants attest that the library field is well suited for exchange and collaboration. For further development they suggest national and regional networks, publications and informal groups on social media. The acquired knowledge within the organization combined with already established working methods and relationships can provide continued development