According to the trade union DIK, which, among other things, organizes librarians, the staffing of school libraries looks different ahead of the autumn. However, the union chairman Anna Troberg notes that there have been relatively few job advertisements where they are looking for school librarians.
Given that so many schools need to fill up now, that's not a good sign.
According to the National Agency for Education, it's too early to interpret signals from the schools about what the autumn term will look like. But the agency looks positively on the fact that the principals are advertising that they are looking for school librarians.
The new law means that students should have access to a school library at the school in a special premises. But there are exceptions, for example, if it's a very small school or if the school shares premises with a public library.
Differ
The school libraries should also be staffed, but exactly how it will look differs. There is no requirement for a certain staffing level or education.
First and foremost, one should try to employ someone who has a librarian education or other relevant higher education. But there are no such requirements. It's connected, among other things, to the fact that there is a shortage of librarians, says Anna Medin, school lawyer at the National Agency for Education.
Some upper secondary schools have several full-time employed school librarians, while in other smaller elementary schools, a teacher may have a shared position between teaching and school library.
The purpose of staffed school libraries is to promote students' reading and media and information literacy. This includes, for example, source criticism and how to search for information.
Up to 2,000 librarians are missing
According to DIK, between 1,300-2,000 librarians are missing, depending on the staffing frequency. Troberg hopes and believes that more will have access to a school library at the school in the autumn with trained librarians.
But I also know that it's a pretty long way to go before that law can be fully fulfilled.
The government is allocating 218 million kronor to school libraries from 2025 and 433 million annually from 2026.
The Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions (SKR) expressed criticism of the financing in a debate article in connection with the decision. According to SKR's calculations, the municipalities should be compensated for increased personnel costs with 2.1 billion kronor per year.
