Att använda en plan - fenomenet biblioteksplaner och begreppet användning problematiserat

Abstract

Planning and evaluation has become increasingly important within the Swedish public library sphere. The aim of this article is to problematize the libraries’ (the Royal Library, the regional libraries and the public libraries) task to evaluate the design and use of ‘library plans’. The task will be described in relation to the development of the Swedish library legislation and the evolution of library plans as an administrative phenomenon. The analytical focus in the article is the concept of use as applied in government practice and library practice. The empirical material consists of documents reflecting the enforcement of use of plans and evaluation of use of plans, and of qualitative interviews with library staff reflecting plans in library practice. The analysis shows how government practice in combination with library practice creates an administrative habit regarding the use, and evaluation of use of plans. Nonetheless the government practice has the first word in deciding which concepts should dominate the library administration. In the concluding discussion we argue the current library administration – and the concepts such as plans, use of plans and plan evaluation, dominating that administration – might be altered if there would be alternatives to the current administrative trends with strong influences from market economy logics.