The stereotypical school librarian? : A studie about non working teachers and teaching assistants view of the school librarian

The aim of this bachelor thesis has been to explore how teachers with long experience in the profession look upon the school librarian, if they see and are affected by any stereotypes. As my method I have interviewed five teachers and asked them a series of questions about how they have worked with the school librarians during the years and what they have thought about when they would hear the word librarian. I have used three major research questions: Since teachers visit the school library quite often in their occupation, how do they perceive the school librarian? How are teachers affected by the stereotypical image of the librarian? According to the teacher, has the librarian changed during the last 40 years? I have tried to distinguish if the teachers I interviewed talked about any stereotypical attributes, based on which I conducted an analysis about my findings. I was surprised to find that the teachers do not seem to have a stereotypical image of the school librarian, rather that they know that stereotypes exist but that they have realized that the librarians they met in their profession do not fit in any of the stereotypes. Still when they did talk about the stereotypical librarian they immediately thought of the old grumpy lady with her hair in a bun and glasses, who is very strict and boring. This study is rather limited by its size, which is why my findings only reflect a part of what teachers might think and not necessarily what everyone thinks