Långt till biblioteket? : En studie i hur boendeområdet påverkar individers läsvanor och boendeområden.

Sammanfattning: The purpose of this paper is to study the variation of library visits and reading habits in different Swedish residential areas (e.g., countryside, towns, cities, and large cities). Furthermore, the paper aims to map out which residential areas that are less covered by library services in order to determine which resources need to be instated. The research questions touched onto the residential areas impact on library visits and reading habits, as well as whether the demography could explain the differences. The paper was based on the national SOM survey of 2015-2019. The results show that people from less populated areas visit the library and read books less frequently than those from more highly populated areas. It also became clear that both gender and education played a part in how often people read and visited the library. Women and those with a higher education were more likely to read and visit the library more often, although the residential area continued to have a clear impact on those habits, particularly amongst those with a lower education. In conclusion these results could help pinpoint where more library resources are necessary.