The little bakery in Mordor? : A quantitative survey of public librarians' genre knowledge of fantasy

The purpose of this study is to conduct a quantitative overview of public librarians' genre knowledge of fantasy and examine how the genre is presented and linked to literature mediation activities. The fantasy genre is somewhat undefined and previous studies show that there is no common or accepted definition of the genre fantasy. Depending on a librarians' knowledge of the genre, the genre's location and exposure in the library are greatly affected. This study is based on the following questions: How do the librarians' genre knowledge affect literature mediating activities at the library and how is the genre presented in the library? What characteristics and distinctive features do public librarians in Västra Götaland County associate with the genre of fantasy? An online survey was conducted with 90 librarians. The analysis of the answers recorded from the survey is based on theories about literature mediation and genre knowledge. Our results show that librarians have a general knowledge of fantasy based on their answers concerning what characterizes the genre through distinctive features and elements. In our analysis, we conclude that genres can "borrow" each other's attributes, elements and features without a book or other media necessarily being classified as a particular genre. It was also concluded that the librarians based on their genre knowledge can implement fantasy elements in their literature and reading promotion activities.