Purpose: The purpose of the study reported in this thesis is to add to the knowledge concerning what public librarians do to meet the needs of unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors, thereby helping them to develop and establish themselves in a new environment. What tasks, activities and tools do the librarians have at their disposal? What problems do they encounter? What values, norms and attitudes guide their work? Method: The thoughts and experiences of six public librarians have been captured through qualitative semi-structured interviews, the result of which has been thematically analysed using notions of social capital and social exclusion. Findings: Unaccompanied asylum-seeking minors face a number of challenges which the public library with its librarians, collections and various activities can assist in coping with by providing the children with opportunities to increase their social capital and decrease the risk of social exclusion. Research limitations: It has for several reasons proven difficult to study unaccompanied asylum-seeking children as a distinct group, which is why this study also uses material that deals with refugees as a whole. A significant amount of the latter are undeniably unaccompanied minors, an especially exposed and vulnerable type of refugees. The study is limited, local and situated and therefore not empirically generalizable. Research implications: The study contributes to the accumulated knowledge concerning the potential of public libraries as vectors for building social capital in the lives of unaccompanied asylum seeking minors, in a variety of ways. The role, values and attitudes of librarians are especially highlighted.