A Place to Learn or a Place for Leisure? Students' Use of the School Library in Norway

Abstract

The aim of this article is to present findings about how students in Norway use and value the school library as part of their daily practice in school, and who those users are. Data were collected through observations, interviews, and questionnaires in two case-study schools (16-18-year-old students) for six months. The findings indicate that students use and value the school library more as a social meeting place and a place for pleasure than as a place for education-related studies. The data are discussed within a theoretical frame of sociology and domain-specific socialization theories and describe the library as a porous space in the school.