Reading with “librarian eyes” : An examination of eight school librarians’ professional reading

Swedish children's reading abilities are decreasing according to the PIRLS 2021 results, which puts pressure on school librarians as they have a unique position in their work when promoting literature for children. But are school librarians’ given time during their workday to actually read the books that they are promoting? The aim of this Master’s thesis is to examine the conditions of, and the expectations on, school librarians’ own professional reading, with an emphasis on reading time at work. Research questions concern how school librarians describe their conditions for reading time and the expectations school (including students, teachers, and management) have on their reading promotion. In addition, the answers are analysed from a theory of professions perspective, where the theoretical framework consists of ideas and concepts by Andrew Abbott, Thomas Brante and Jan Nolin. The empirical data consist of eight semi-structured interviews with school librarians from different parts of the country, working at different kinds of school libraries. The main conclusions are that the school librarians all must adapt to very different conditions and expectations since there is a lack of legislation regarding the operations of school libraries. Because of this, trust between the librarian and the school management is seen as a key factor in ensuring reading time. Despite most of the librarians having reading time they still spend their free time reading for work, which has implications for the professionas a whole as their work becomes invisible