Libraries in Sweden Anne Hedrich NRIC 2006

Sweden/Sverige 173,731 square miles (roughly the size of California) population 9,029,000 literacy rate 99%

Umeå northern Sweden’s largest town just south of the Arctic Circle at 64° N 110,000 people home of Umeå University (founded 1965) and a branch of SLU, the Swedish Agricultural University (founded 1977, merging three separate colleges)

Libraries in Sweden Royal Library in Stockholm (Kungliga biblioteket) national library catalog: LIBRIS national direction/coordination of libraries from ABM – Archives, Libraries, Museums (Arkiv- Bibliotek-Museer ) 20 counties (communs) in Sweden, each has a self-funded and self-directed library system 6 major university research library centers in Sweden (one is Umeå universitet) 4 library schools in the country (one in Umeå)

Academic System in Sweden Bachelors degree 3 years Masters degree 2 years Post Graduate: PhD 5 years, have to publish 5 articles, these students are university employees Sweden will change to the Bologna system that will standardize higher ed across Europe

Umeå University Library 1.1 million books 22,000 periodicals 900,000 “visitors per year” 280,000 “web visitors per year” Budget of 80 M SEK per year (+20 m SEK with Research Archives and Medical Library) 100 employees (+20 with above units)

SLUSLU Forestry LibraryForestry Library branch library of the Swedish Agricultural University (SLU) 8 employees (6 librarians, 2 library assistants) not funded by general library system; SLU and its libraries are funded by the national agriculture department

Notes on: Reference Service Umeå University Library has a large Reference and User Services Department, drawing from many other library departments Umeå Model of Reference (roving reference) Forestry Library – reference assistance provided by all staff members

Notes on: Umeå University Library Administration/Organization subject area departments carry out their own acquisitions, cataloging, instruction, and liaison services

Notes on: Forestry Library Administration/Organization 8 employees everyone carries out reference and circulation duties employees specialize in services in cataloging, ILL, systems, document delivery, instruction, and accounting

Notes on: Instruction Umeå University Library: 1200 lectures per year; one session provided to each class free of charge, then there is a charge for any desired additional classes Forestry Library: 4 hours of instruction at undergraduate level, but instructors can schedule more; one week/one credit course for graduates; information literacy a focus

Notes on: Funding central funding from government central funding from university funding from individual faculties that each library serves These libraries receive funding the following ways: From what I gathered, funding appears to be fairly stable.

emphasis on providing course reserves and access to class texts in the Red Room self check-out call number system – SAB system (Sveriges Allmänna Biblioteks- förening) Umeå University Library features of note

SLU Forestry Library features of note remodeling library to create active group learning areas call number system is their own; within subject areas books are organized alphabetically by first author, or alphabetically by title if more than 3 authors the library must pay rent to the state for the space their library takes up; this is a significant cost (20% of their budget)

Issues Bologna Model – impact on academic system and on academic libraries (especially for instruction classes) baby boom retirements competition for library services (Google, etc.) impact of electronic publishing on libraries budget strains (costs of resources, space, and staffing)

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