Återblickar : en livshistorisk studie av pensionerade folkbibliotekariers upplevelser av sitt yrkesliv

Sammanfattning: This master’s thesis focuses on the experiences of retired public librarians in relation to their professional life. The public library as an institution and the librarian profession have to this day gone through many changes, and a high level of research has been conducted regarding this. Yet, there is a lack of perspective from those who have actually lived through and during these changes. Based on the stories of four former public librarians, and with the use of life-history method, the purpose of this thesis was to explore how retired librarians experience their professional life and the path to it. This thesis has resulted in professional life stories, in which four retired librarians’ experiences of professional life are portrayed. In order to understand the collective level that can be interpreted as identity-building for the former librarians, the theoretical starting point used in this thesis was the theory of social identity. This thesis has shown that the retired librarians have experienced some extensive changes in relation to their profession and the library institution during their professional lives. Consistently the stories show the development in relation to the conception of literature and mediation, and the retired librarians can be said to have clung to the importance of literature and reading during their careers, although this has taken different forms in different times. The result also shows experiences regarding the relationship with patrons, in which the distance between them and the librarians has decreased during their professional lives. A central aspect seen in the stories is the technological development, which has given them more time to spend on other types of job assignments, but at the same time it has to some extent led to the questioning of the changes in the librarian role and what the job is supposed to mean. The stories show that all of the retired librarians have identified with their profession on a personal level during their professional lives, and for some it can be seen as a lifestyle. The collective identity is apparent in the way in which they see themselves as librarians during their professional lives, and in their separation from others. In the shaping of their identities, the interaction with other individuals and their response given to the librarians have been important. The experienced changes in relation to the profession and library institution have had an impact on the self-perception of the retired librarians during their professional lives. The changes have led to a socialization into new systems and contexts, which for some has been associated with emotional impact.