Försummade fängelsebibliotek : dess problem och lösningar

• Main Author: Elbaz, Sharon
• Format: Others
• Language: Swedish
• Published: Linnéuniversitetet, Institutionen för kulturvetenskaper (KV) 2020
• Subjects: Försummade; fängelsebibliotek; 50-talet; 60-talet; maktförhållanden; styrkeförhållanden; Foucault; biblioteksservice; fångar; interner; intagna; bibliotekarie; History; Historia
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:lnu:diva-93308

Reading is something that has not been obvious to those who have been admitted to prisons around Sweden. The reading was considered to be more of a rehabilitation of the interns and the reading was used to make them better people, a way to show that the prison made prisoners better citizens. It would take a while for the librarians to gain access to the prison libraries. However, it did not become very easy then. There was a high wall between the professional groups, the prison staff and the librarians and the communication between them was not the best. As a result, the work was thwarted and misunderstandings occurred. It was not until the 1950s and 1960s that librarians got a breakthrough in the matter and the debate surrounding the neglect of prison libraries. Articles and books were written on the subject that raised the issue. This essay concerns the discussion that was held at this time through a discourse analysis, with the WPR approach and its analytical questions as tools. The method found that the problems behind the neglect of the prison libraries were not only the most obvious, that is, the financial shortage, but the evaluation of the interns' reading. When reading went from being a rehabilitative and educational issue to becoming more of an entertainment, its value diminished. By studying the discussions that took place during the time period, the problems could be identified and analysed. Subsequently, the solutions that were executed were identified and this thesis studied how the solutions coalesced in a major venture at Hall prison. The investment was made by the School Board and the Prison and Probation Service and was one of the largest investments made with serving librarians, newly built library, sufficient budget and a solid library service during the three years of the project.