"Samtidens tillfälliga nycker?" : En studie om förutsättningar för hbtqia+-inkluderande arbete på folkbibliotek

Sammanfattning: The aim of the thesis is to make visible how Swedish public libraries work with LGBTQIA+-inclusion, how the conditions for this work are affected by factors such as municipality size, economy and political support, and what importance the two forms of LGBTQIA+ certifications have for the extent of the LGBTQIA+- inclusive work. The theoretical framework consists of queer theory and organizational theory and the method consists of an equal parts qualitative and quantitative survey answered by 203 of Sweden's 290 municipal main libraries. The result shows that the occurrence and extent of LGBTQIA+ inclusive work seems to be higher in LGBTQIA+-certified libraries, that municipality size and libraries' financial situation seems to affect the possibility of becoming LGBTQIA+ certified by RFSL and hence, by extension, affects the extent of LGBTQIA+-work. In terms of political aspects, the experience of political support for LGBTQIA+ work seems to be lowest in municipalities where the nationalist and right-wing populist political party Sverigedemokraterna govern, and it is also in these municipalities that libraries experience the most conflicts with politics connected to LGBTQIA+ work, mainly related to story times with drag artists. However, the presence or absence of political support does not seem to affect the extent of LGBTQIA+ work in the libraries. In the analysis, it appears that LGBTQIA+-inclusive work in libraries through isomorphic mechanisms seems to have become kind of a norm and something that creates legitimacy for libraries.