Högdalens bibliotek som mötesplats : En studie om trygghet med utgångspunkt i besökares och personals upplevelser

Sammanfattning: Lack of safety is a problem in many public places in society, including libraries, where disturbances of order and crime are common problems. Perhaps, many people experience the library as a quiet and safe place, without quarrels, vandalism, violence, theft, or harassment, yet all these are recurring problems in libraries. This study is carried out to clarify factors that cause the lack of safety in libraries and to develop measures to counteract these factors. The survey is conducted as a case study of Högdalen library, where the purpose of the study is to understand how the environment at the library affects the safety of the place, based on the visitors' and personnel's safety experiences. In order to get answers to the study's main research question – that is, how visitors and personnel experience the safety at Högdalen library – a questionnaire survey was conducted, answered by 43 library visitors, as well as interviews with four people from the library's personnel. The study also includes an examination and a compilation of statistics from troublesome events that occurred at the library between the years 2017 and 2020 to further – together with the questionnaire survey and interviews – get answers to what problems are most common in the library today. The hope is that the questionnaire survey, the interviews, the statistics, and the study's theoretical and literature basis will provide answers to how crime prevention through environmental design can be used as a reference to improve safety at Högdalen library. The study is delimited and does not include any comparison between Högdalen library and other libraries concerning the safety experience. The results show that visitors and personnel have a positive image of the safety experience at Högdalen library. Most of the questionnaire respondents (83,7 %) have not experienced any situation that has developed the feeling of unsafety, while the personnel, instead, believe that incidents that have been experienced as troublesome have increased their awareness and experiences of how such situations can be handled, and further increased their motivation to strive for a safe environment for all library visitors. Although the above results show a positive safety experience at Högdalen library, a minor number of visitors (16,3 %) experience, or have experienced, the feeling of unsafety in the library's premises. These experiences of unsafety are based on cases linked to disturbances of order, harassment, drugs, or property crimes, but also problems with obstacles, ability to orientate and lines of sight. The personnel also highlight that some troublesome situations – associated with, for example, youth groups and addicts – have contributed to increased stress and a feeling of discomfort, which subsequently has affected their well-being in the workplace. However, it is important to remember that all people experience safety differently, and that a complete elimination of unsafety can thus be difficult to achieve. Nevertheless, it is vital to make every attempt to prevent the existing risks as much as possible.