Promoting reading 1
(Rydsjö 2012). A survey shows the difficulties of
reaching new Swedes and children with disabilities using this method (Corneliuson 2007). Overall, the challenge with reading promotion efforts is to reach out to the groups in greatest need. For some projects, ‘language bags’ have been produced, which besides books also contain other materials such as bookmarks, toys depicting characters from children’s books, etc., to use with parents and children. In the report, Rydsjö stresses the importance of knowledge about children’s literature in languages other than the majority language. Abroad, there are various ways of working with children’s multilingualism. In the UK, as part of the Bookstart programme, books are offered in more languages than English, while in a similar programme in Denmark (Bogstart), the choice has been made to give all families books in Danish. There are at least two established ways of handing over a package of books to a family. There is some disagreement around which of these is preferable. Many projects have used gift cards supplied to parents via the nurse at the child health centre, which can then be redeemed for a free book pack at the library. This is to encourage parents to become active visitors to the library. The Bookstart programme also requires that the child become registered as a borrower. This method has proven to have a disadvantage: in many studies, it has been found that parents with limited reading abilities refrain from visiting the library. It has therefore been proposed that, where necessary, the package of books should be provided directly to the parents, and to let the nurse at the child health centre decide what is most appropriate. In Sweden, the distribution statistics in many places have been low where the library has been the distributor; parents have simply not visited the library to pick up their package of books. The statistics have been better when staff at the child health centre have distributed book packages directly to parents. However, this method places higher demands on the library to work with outreach in other ways (Corneliuson 2007). In this context of free book packs as a reading promotion method, it is worth mentioning a British study that shows strong links between reading enjoyment, attitudes to reading and book ownership (Clark & Poulton 2011). The importance of giving books in the work of improving reading habits and attitudes to reading is also reflected in a series of evaluations reported by Rydsjö. Rydsjö’s suggestions for best practice include supplying age-appropriate books and free book packs on a number of occasions during the preschool years, which has also occurred as part of Bookstart internationally. The most common has been to distribute free book packs on a single occasion, in all cases to children under the age of six months. In some programmes, free book packs have been distributed on three additional occasions, usually at the ages of 18 months, three and six years (Kümmerling-Meibauer 2014). The Danish programme Bogstart involves four free book packs distributed when the child is six months, one year, 18 months and three years old. In the UK, there is also a special programme for two-year-olds and their families, called Bookstart+. Generally, book gifting programmes are aimed at small children and their parents, but free book packs also form part of reading promotion activities with other target groups. An example is the Letterbox Club Sverige project, which involves sending free book packs to children aged 8–10 in foster care, once each month for six months. About 30 children from a total of 8 districts in the City of Stockholm took part in a pilot 32