Får föräldrar plats? : En studie om föräldrars användning och värdesättning av Göteborgs stadsbiblioteks barnavdelning

Sammanfattning: The aim of this thesis is to obtain knowledge about the parents’ use and value of the library’s section for the smallest children at the city library of Gothenburg. The theory of Four Spaces created by Jochumsen, Hvenegaard Rasmussen and Skot-Hansen is used to help answer and understand the research questions. The methods are short interviews with parents and observations of parents in the children’s section. The method employed to analyze the gathered data is thematic analysis. In the thematic analysis we create categories based on the empirical material and connect these categories to the theory where possible. Twenty parents were interviewed and 202 observations were made. The results indicate that parents use the children’s section to play, read and interact with their children, among other things. The categories from most used to least used were Play, Communal activities, Books and reading, Inactivity and Overall activities. In addition, some of the most common values the parents emphasized were in the form of opportunities for playing and reading. The categories from most valued to least valued were Value for the children, Value for the community, Value related to the children’s section, Emotional value, Value of play, Value in the form of books and reading, and Value for the Family. In conclusion, the reasons parents use and value the children’s section are complex and they don’t always reflect on their actions and choices made when visiting the children’s section.