"Mer än bara böcker?" : Skolbibliotekariers uppfattning om den egna kompetensen och externa förväntningar

The aim of this bachelor thesis is to examine how school librarians view their owncompetencies and how external expectations manifest in their work. I wanted toexplore how the discrepancy afflicts the general sense of school librarian’s selfimage and how it connects to the profession of school librarianship. This topic wasseen as relevant as there is an update in the Swedish law concerning staffing atschool libraries. Current research also shows that school librarians have a widerange of competencies fit for the task but that they need collaboration for it to beproperly spent. I used a method of conducting qualitative interviews as a datacollection method to discuss these issues with school librarians around Sweden. Asa theoretical framework, multiple theories have been applied such as silentknowledge, identity formation and professional identity. According to theseconcepts, this study shows how school librarians have developed different sets ofcompetencies which are best used in collaboration with other. The discrepancyconcerning which skills the school librarians have may also have been the reason fordeveloping such competencies. However, if the school librarians are to grow in theirprofessional identity further they must be supported through the learning processand be allowed to participate in the social practice of the schools.