What influences the purchase of fiction for adults in public libraries : a comparative study of a Swedish public library and its English equivalent

The purpose of this bachelor thesis is to do a comparativecase study between a public library in Sweden and one in England. Our aim is to examine what factors affect alibrarian in charge of purchasing fiction for adults and to what degree. We have used two methods of study, specifically semi-constructed interviews with two librarians and text analysis of policies in place at each library respectively. Our research questions share the above mentioned context and should therefore be read with that backdrop:-How is selection and purchase covered in the policies?-What selection criteria are used by the respondents?-What differences are there regarding the decision making? -How can the viewpoints be explained?Our analytical framework was based on three arguments namely market demand, quality and social inclusion when examining our material. The analysis shows that there are differences in what policies are used in the two libraries and to what degree they influence the purchasing process. The market demand and customer requests affect the selection criteria in both countries. The decision making is group-based in the Swedish public library and largely made on an individual basis in its English counterpart.The conclusions from our study are that there is a clear dominance of market demand and social inclusion in the two public libraries as to what influences adult fiction purchasing. Library policies and the behavior they drive, coupled with the drive to achieve high turnover rates are part of the reason why.Program: Bibliotekari