Bibliotekarierna och bilderna av dem En jämförande studie

Sammanfattning: The aim of this study is to examine a number of Swedish working public librarians and compare them with some popular standard images of librarians. In this project we have been working in line with these three questions: How do the librarians describe themselves and how can the descriptions be interpreted? What images are the most common and repetitive, according to earlier research? What differences and similarities are there between the images of the librarians and the working librarians? To answer the questions we have performed seven qualitative interviews with working librarians and collected relevant literature that presents various portrayals of librarians. To interpret the interviews we have used Pierre Bourdieus theories of social space, social fields, habitus and the cultural, academic, social and the economic capitals, as well as the connection between individual taste, class and social power. The conclusions of the collected material of earlier research and the interpreted material from the interviews have been compared and discussed. Results show that there are a lot of differences between the librarians and the stereotype images. The images usually show the librarian as female with a work that is more of a lifestyle than just work and she often lacks academic education. The librarians are also usually portrayed as shy or boring. Our respondents on the other hand are all social, well-educated and often have several interests outside work. As for similarities most librarians have some of the physical attributes in common, like glasses or tactful clothing.