Promoting reading 1
nisations mentioned in this review include the UK
’s National Literacy Trust and Book Trust, which, besides exercising some influence on Nordic reading promotion activities, also regularly publishes useful research reviews. The most common target group for reading promotion efforts at Swedish libraries is children and adolescents. Reading promotion with adults as the main target group is a comparatively low-priority area. This is apparent in particular in several Masters theses: Ljung (2006) investigated reading promotion activities for adults as conducted by a number of librarians; Hansson & Svensson (2006) studied reading promotion activities for adults with “limited reading abilities”; and Hell Carlsson (2014) investigated the views of chief librarians on literature mediation for adults. That adults are a relatively low-priority target group for reading promotion efforts is by no means unique to Sweden. A study of reading promotion interventions for adults at public libraries, carried out on behalf of the British Library, shows that libraries work on the assumption that adults know what they want to read and have the skills to find the right books, and that adult readers prefer to make their own choices without interference from librarians. When it comes to adults, librarians tend to take a more neutral attitude and provide information rather than offer advice on reading (Kinnell & Shepherd 1998). However, in the last two years, book circles at Swedish public libraries have increased significantly, which can be interpreted as an increased focus on adult readers (Rydbeck 2013). State of the research How should one best define an area of research such as “reading promotion”? To begin with, by determining what type of reading research is contemplated and not contemplated. Research on reading and learning to read is a relatively new phenomenon, which has increased exponentially in recent decades. So for example, reading researcher Jeanne Chall could state in Stages of Reading Development from 1983 that more reading research had been published in a single year than had previously existed from the end of the nineteenth century to the beginning of the 1960s. The majority of research on reading concerns the acquisition of literacy and the cognitive processes that are fundamental to reading. In recent decades, reading research has moved from a more formal learning context to wider social contexts. There is now a growing body of research in areas such as reading habits, reading preferences and attitudes towards reading. In this review, research about learning to read will be given very little attention. Instead the focus is on the multi-disciplinary research field that is termed reading engagement. In the field reading engagement, reading within and outside school is studied. It might, for example, deal with reading at home or at work, how people are socialised into different reading roles, the positive or negative effects on reading of schools, libraries or other actors, how reading is impacted by new media, etc. An overview of the field is provided in Ellis & Coddington (2013) International handbook of research on children’s literacy, learning and culture, and in Ross (2006) Reading matters: what the research reveals about reading, libraries, and community. Reading engagement also includes a growing body of research on reading motivation and attitudes to reading. The aim is not to provide any kind comprehensive description of this growing field, which is large internationally and difficult to clearly define. Instead, a select number of examples of research are described that provide knowledge and insight into reading promotion activities. Reading promotion can be 13