Degerfors library is a success online

Over 40,000 people follow them on Instagram. People travel from far and wide to take selfies. Famous comedians pay tribute to their posts. Sweden’s funniest and now most famous library assistants work at the library in Degerfors municipality.

Piles of books, magazines and DVDs. Everywhere. On a desk hangs a stack of plastic bags with the words “Visit your local library – Much more than just books” over one edge. Two professional light stands tower up in one corner. Welcome to Library Sweden’s most visited workplace, at least via screens.

In this brick building from 1958, which also houses Folkets hus, the employees at Degerfors library record their now viral clips. Åsa Johansson, Robin Karlsson, Harriet Åhlund and Birgit Westergren have involuntarily become social media stars.

Today they record a new one. Preparations are underway in the adjacent kitchen.

– I wrote something yesterday. Are you okay with saying something, Birgit? asks Robin Karlsson and hands out the script around the breakfast table, which is laid out with different kinds of bread, butter, cheese, sausages and biscuits.

Library assistant Birgit Westergren theatrically grabs her forehead and sighs:

– Any reply?

Authentic Degerfors dialect important

Library assistant Harriet Åhlund rolls her eyes and says:

– Sometimes I get a whole A4 with lines, it’s terrible.

Robin Karlsson is from Habo, outside Jönköping. It presents a challenge for a screenwriter trying to write in authentic Degerfors dialect.

– We get to help him with local expressions, says children’s and youth librarian Åsa Johansson.

This is behind the scenes of what many claim is a cross between a meeting between director Roy Andersson, known for his pale lighting, slow dialogue and dark humor, and the series The Office, with its mockumentary style.

The clip is a success online

Regardless of what has been crossed, Degerfors library has attracted over 40,000 people on Instagram. That is four times more than the number of inhabitants in the entire municipality. And by a large margin the largest among Sweden’s library accounts on Instagram. Just compare with Stockholm’s city library’s 8,100 followers, Gothenburg’s 7,300 and Malmö’s 6,900.

Harriet Åhlund reads her lines aloud. In one scene, she looks out of a window and sees that Robin Karlsson, on his way into work, has encountered a library visitor he has displeased.

“Well, Anna-Carin Pettersson is coming too! Wasn’t she the one who wanted to borrow the books yesterday? Oh he refuses. Now he’s getting hot on the ear! Now he probably has to lend his last book”.

A quarter of an hour reading through the lines, then it’s time for recording. It is twenty past nine and the employees are moving back to their workplaces.

“Checked in an hour earlier than others”

Robin Karlsson rigs up the camera and hides the microphone on Harriet Åhlund’s desk. That he became the driving force in the recordings is not surprising, given that social media is part of his service. This is where the course in art science and the education from the comics and visual storytelling program at the University of Gävle come in handy.

– I thought this was the most exciting at the beginning. I ran and clocked in an hour before everyone else. Now it’s probably more that I feel we have to produce something for social media, he says.

Recordings usually don’t take that long. Robin Karlsson usually whispers and then cuts off his own voice.

Although the viral clips look lavish, they don’t take more than an hour to record. Professional lighting is no longer used, daylight is sufficient. Robin Karlsson prompts the employees, who try to deliver the lines as believably as they can. Afterwards, he edits out his voice.

– Cutting can take a few hours. I do it when I’m not on external duty, but can work with long-distance loans and other things that are done in the office.

The boss: “They’re naturals”

Between takes, Birgit Westergren goes back to her computer and answers emails. Harriet Åhlund yawns big while Robin Karlsson films details to be cut in.

Degerfors cultural director Sofia Luthman says that she tries to provide the right conditions for the employees to be able to record the clips within the framework of their work.

– Many people think they scratch a lot. But the fact is that they are natural talents and that the work takes much less time than many people think, while it gives back so much. They do both the municipality and Library Sweden a service by making the activities visible in a fun and inspiring way, she says.

Robin Karlsson’s script allows the employees to improvise, but his own character and Harriet Åhlund’s have become increasingly clear over the years since he started the account in 2018.

– Harriet and I have become a bit of Helan and Halvan, who are going to fight a bit.

Harriet Åhlund – a crowd favourite

The biggest among the involuntary stars is Harriet Åhlund, native Degerforsbo and self-described local patriot.

Harriet Åhlund has had to get used to being photographed.

Slowly, her fictional character has developed: cocky (presents herself as “Harriet the one and only”), IT skeptic (“that’s mean” – prefers modems) and mean to Robin Karlsson (whom she calls a slob). Everything in broad Degerfors dialect.

And if Harriet Åhlund and her dialect play the main role in many of the clips, her authentic small hoarse laugh plays an important supporting role.

– It’s fun to record, although if I had known it would be this big, I would never have wanted to do it. At the time I mostly thought “well, not many people see this”, but now it is. Heh heh heh

“That’s not Babel here!”

At the same time, she likes the role she has been assigned.

– It’s fun to be something you’re not in reality. Some who come in here think I saw in reality. “Do you dare come in here,” someone said. Heh heh heh

Here’s what a clip might sound like where she calls one of the library’s regulars:

“Hello Britt-Marie. It’s Harriet at the library! Yes, I’ve picked out a few books, so I thought I’d come…

Do you want to read poems?

Hope. I have picked out what you usually want! Returning home, alcoholic police officers who are in the middle of a divorce, and those creepy detectives who are named after nursery rhymes. Think you should read what you’ve always read! But dear someone! Isn’t this Babel here!? You have thought of becoming a writer for DN Kultur, perhaps? Heh heh heh “

In the background, colleague Åsa Johansson can be heard saying: “Fight Britt-Marie!”

“You don’t give a damn. Well… yes, I work in a library, but you don’t need to be willing to listen to poems for that, do you? Now, I’ve known you since elementary school. What is it that has wings in it? How bad is that? Yes, I don’t want to hear any poetry! Now give it to Britt-Marie! However, I have printed out a recipe for the almond flakes. Thought I’d send you the books. Yes, add some audiobooks. It can be nice to listen to a baker. Long time since we got now! Everyone gets so happy when cakes come from you!

Tributes pour into the library

In the comment fields, followers praise both the script and the language:

“I want a T-shirt with ‘Dear nun, this isn’t Babel.'”

“So Harriet is my spirit animal!! This is the funniest and best insta account ever!”

“Love this account. Kind of want to go to Degerfors just to visit this wonderful library!”

Well-known comedians like Sissela Kyle follow the account, and in another clip the actor Cecilia Frode writes: “I’m leaving!!!! This is what I missed in Roy Andersson, so good!”

Selfie lovers come from all over Sweden

The time has reached 10.45. Harriet Åhlund moves out into the library to empty bookcases, lay out newspapers and start the computers fifteen minutes before opening. She has had the job as a library assistant at Degerfors library for 25 years, but it is only recently that she has had to get used to taking selfies with admirers.

When the library has opened, it doesn’t take long before the first selfie of the day is taken. Visitor Elisabeth Ericsson takes the opportunity to take a card while picking up a book.

Another fan is Harri Brunke.

– I think the account is great fun. That’s damn good, if you’ll excuse me. The cliffs do a lot for Degerfors because people now understand that it’s not just football here. My wife and I follow their account on Instagram. They feel spontaneous and human, he says.

The selfie-hungry come from all over, says Harriet Åhlund.

– They come to see if we really exist. Many come from other cities. It has been from Uppsala, Småland and all sorts of places. They are probably on their way somewhere, but take the opportunity to come in. Some take a turn by, which is a bit cool actually.

She hasn’t had time to tire of celebrity yet.

– When I was at a football match, several people came and took selfies. It’s just a matter of showing up, he he he… It feels okay, we have to hope that there won’t be an occasion when I think it will be difficult.

But the question is whether the entire work team may soon have to make peace with all mobile cameras. In fact, their posts have become so popular that “something new and bigger” may be in the offing. It is Robin Karlsson who represents the work team when discussions with the production companies are held. For the first time during the interview, he is brief.

– There is a risk that it will be something completely different from what we do today. But then the question is whether to see it as an end point or the beginning of something new. The idea develops and in terms of content it is good if other people come in as well.

Visitors remind of the everyday job

Despite all the likes, comments and successes, he still thinks that the everyday working life means that the employees at the library do not become too model.

Robin Karlsson is brought down to earth by library visitors who want their books.

– It’s quite nice that people come in and say they want their book. Then you come down to earth and be reminded of what we do in the first place, says Robin Karlsson.

And Harriet Åhlund has no dramatic plans ahead of her so far.

– This is a fun workplace and it’s fun to go to work. I’m not retiring. What would I do during the day? A new acting career is probably not a risk. Heh heh heh