Biblioteksutvecklingen i Karlsborg 1907-1970 – vägen mot ett kommunalt folkbibliotek

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The purpose of this master thesis is to describe and analyse the development of the library history in the municipality of Karlsborg. This is done with a comparison to the library development in Sweden as a whole and in particular to the cities of Lidköping and Halmstad. I have worked according to the following questions: 1. How did the libraries develop before the municipality took over? 2. How did the libraries develop after the municipality took over? The library history of Karlsborg started in 1862 with the foundation of a parish library which lasted until 1899. The next step was the foundation of the Workers of the Munitions Factory Library Association in 1907. This association ran a library on the factory grounds until forced by security measures to close down in 1915. In the same year the IOGT-lodge The Star of Lake Wättern started a library. The two libraries continued to work alongside each other since the Workers reopened their library in 1921. There were several talks about merger but nothing came about until 1956 when the two libraries were merged and taken over by the municipality. The two libraries financed their activity by several means. The main source of income was the subsidies given by the state and the municipality. Other important sources were the Munitions Factory and Trade unions. The librarians were volunteers and were not paid before the 1940s. The stock of books did show a steady but small increase, as did the lending figures. When the municipality took over there was a considerable boost to the whole library activity with funding and lending etc. In 1969 the first purpose-built library building in Karlsborg was inaugurated. The library development in Lidköping and Halmstad was much the same as in Karlsborg. The library activity did however start earlier and was on a larger scale. Since both Lidköping and Halmstad are much bigger than Karlsborg this is hardly a surprise. Halmsta...