Unga nyanlända IT-värdar på folkbibliotek : Ett integrationsperspektiv

Sammanfattning: The present study explores if and how young refugees working in Stockholm public libraries as IT-supporters have been helped, by their work, in their integration process into Swedish society. The study also investigates whether any differences can be observed, from an integration perspective, based on if the IT-supporters worked in an inner city library or suburban library. The study is based on semi-structured interviews with seven IT-supporters that worked or had been working in a role as IT-supporters in public libraries, and three respondents with a leading role within the project called ”Young IT-supporters”. The study is also based on observations from two libraries at two different locations. The results support a conclusion that the ”Young IT-supporters” project, by and large, has been successful for positive integration. For example it was found that the IT-supporters had developed their Swedish language skills, gained better confidence, learned more about Swedish society and culture, and made new contacts and friends. The result also showed that 84 percent of IT-supporters had become self-sufficient three months after being employed at the library. Regarding differences if the IT-supporters had worked in the city or in the suburb, only small differences were observed in an integration perspective. The theories used to analyze the results of this study were Alastair Ager and Alison Strang’s integration model, and Ragnar Audunson’s theory of the library as a multicultural and low-intensive meeting place. The results relate to Ager and Strang’s integration model and show that the library can serve as a low-intensive meeting place to promote integration. The conclusion is that ”Young IT-supporters” is a successful integration project. This is a two years master’s thesis in Library and Information Science.