The‌ ‌Role‌ ‌of‌ ‌Public‌ ‌Libraries‌ ‌in‌ ‌the‌ ‌Promotion‌ ‌of‌ ‌Sami‌ ‌Rights‌ ‌in‌ ‌Sweden‌ : A Normative Perspective

Sammanfattning: According to 2§ of the Swedish Library Act, libraries shall work towards the development of a democratic society by spreading knowledge and providing people with the possibility to form their own opinions (SFS, 2013:801). It’s a natural consequence that Sweden’s national minorities are not provided with the same amount of services as the majority community, however the extent of how much space the minorities ought to be given in public libraries is a relatively unexplored research topic. This thesis uses a normative and argumentative structure to argue that public libraries ought to be prioritized more in the promotion of language and cultural rights for the Sami minority in Sweden. All of the Sami languages are defined as endangered according to the UN organization UNESCO, which makes the promotion of them a relatively urgent issue if the languages are wished to be preserved. The theoretical framework consists of Will Kymlicka’s arguments about equality and cultural diversity as a justification for group-specific rights, as well as David’s Crystal’s discussion on how to efficiently avoid language death. The arguments focus both on the linguistic and cultural benefits of an increased promotion of Sami related services in public libraries. It also highlights, and tries to tackle, potential issues such as the experienced lack of published Sami literature in Sweden.