The adaption of cultural activities : A qualitative study on families with young children during a pandemic

Abstract: Libraries play an important role in society by offering cultural activities to families with younger children. Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the libraries had to restrict their services. Due to the restrictions, families have lost many of the opportunities that the library offered. This thesis explores the effect that the restrictions have had on families. To get a contemporary insight into these effects the photovoice method was applied, followed by semi-structured interviews. Four families who frequent the library were used in the study. To present and analyze the needs of the families, the four spaces-model by Jochumsen, Rasmussen, and Skot-Hansen was used. An environmental anthropological perspective on the context of crisis by Vigh was used to analyze aspects of a prolonged pandemic. The results of this thesis show that the families miss libraries and their activities. The families expressed a wish for more outreach from the libraries. The interviews showed that socializing during the pandemic was the hardest challenge to overcome due to social distancing restrictions. At the same time, the families were able to come up with activities to do with the help of digital tools. This helped them to learn how to find and cre-ate new activities which then gave them a new experience. The thesis also presents that libraries are not able to follow the library act or appointed goals with the restrictions.