This thesis aims to investigate how librarians work with acquisitions of multilingual literature and how their work has changed due to the European refugee crisis. In this study four main librarians with a special responsibility for this type of acquisitions have been interviewed. The questions were created to explore their experiences of changes, difficulties and existing qualifications. The study uses a new theoretical model, inspired by Evans and Saponaros’ (2005) “Collection development process”, to illustrate how librarians create relevant collections. Since the model was not enough, Andrew Abbott´s theoretical conception “External sources for system change” was added. The conception completed the model, since the study’s aim also included changes.

The findings were that all librarians had identified changes in their work with acquisitions of literature. For example, they all pointed out language barriers and difficulties locating literature as the most palpable factors. All respondents found that the library’s purpose was to reflect the societal needs, which constantly change. Another challenge was therefore that the librarians constantly needed to redirect the way they worked with collection development, since the users and their needs aren’t always the same. Another finding was that collaboration between libraries and/or other institutions may become more common. Sharing of knowledge seems to be a necessity since the challenges are of different natures. They are not something foreign or unexpected, but they might require the libraries to ally in order to bring these tests to a soluble level.