Promoting reading 1
students’ reading motivation when reading paper b
ooks and when reading e-books, respectively, has indicated that the content is more important for reading motivation among children and young people than the format per se. However, students tended to prefer e-books when they were offered a greater number of books to choose from and the option to choose their own e-books. Most likely, the reading potential of the e-book lies in the possibility of making greater quantities of literature available, which in turn permits choice and thus provides motivation. An audiobook, sometimes referred to as a talking book, is a recording of published book being read aloud. Audiobooks are produced in Sweden by the Swedish Agency for Accessible Media (MTM), which was previously named the Swedish Library of Talking Books and Braille. MTM works to ensure that individuals with reading impairments are offered literature in a form that is accessible to them, and is also tasked with making available, producing and distributing easy-to-read literature to the extent that these needs are not met in the commercial market. Before 1950, the visually impaired could only borrow books in Braille from Sweden’s Association for the Blind. But after audiotape technology was developed, public libraries and MTM began to build up a book collection of talking books of non-fiction and fiction for adults as well as children. While in other countries it is usual that a central library for the blind lends media directly to the visually impaired, in Sweden already in the 1950s there was a collaboration with public libraries. This model of collaboration has been very significant for reaching new readers, such as people with dyslexia. From the 1950s, books were recorded on audiotape, with a transition during the 1970s to cassette tapes. During the 1990s, there was a transition to CD format and now, in the twenty-first century, audiobooks have become downloadable via the app Legimus. *** Based on what has emerged from this report, in order to move forward in reading promotion efforts outside school, the following recommendations are proposed: • Start as you mean to go on. The importance of early reading stimulation cannot be stressed enough and Family literacy initiatives are highly recommended. Initiatives aimed at encouraging and informing parents about the importance of reading aloud to their children is a special priority. Men in particular should be encouraged and urged to read to their children. • Identify groups with greater needs than others and work for them. In order to counteract the Matthew effect, Summer learning losses and other factors that create gaps in the reading of children from different socio-economic backgrounds, needs should guide the choice of target groups, and one should be clear about what applies and why. • Increase access to literature, regardless of the medium. Research on reading motivation indicates a correlation between reading motivation and access to a broad range of reading material, which should be understood to mean a broad range of genres and types of texts in different media. The provision of a rich variety of reading material also communicates that reading is a valuable and worthwhile pursuit. 116