Promoting reading 1
and the children’s ideas and feelings about liter
ature and reading. In addition, the evaluation aimed to study whether the work at literary preschools had impacted the children’s reading development, and to identify positive and negative factors in the collaboration. Svensson’s evaluation showed that the collaboration had led to a valuable exchange of knowledge between the two professions. The working methods of the preschool teachers had been altered towards greater responsiveness to the children’s thoughts and ideas and more conversations with the children. Both the preschool teachers and the family day care providers had updated their work with literature. The librarians had got an insight into how children’s literature might be used in the thematic activities of preschools, which has resulted in them reading the new children’s literature they receive with this in mind. The evaluation also points to greater access to literature and higher borrowing rates. Preschools with a literary profile work to bring literature to life in different ways through art forms such as theatre and music, and with aids such as hand puppets, literacy bags, flannel board stories, tablet computers, etc. All the teachers thought that these activities had a positive influence on the children’s attitudes to books and reading. Among other things, the results of the evaluation show that children who have attended a literary profile preschool: • Know how to think about and discuss literature • Have a habit of conversing about stories and literature • Have very great access to stories and literature • Know how to use a library The evaluation also points to the difficulty of measuring whether children who have attended a literary profile preschool demonstrate a greater interest in literature and better language skills than children who have not done so. In this connection, it would be interesting to know more about the socio-economic circumstances of families who choose to place their children in a preschool with a literary profile. A more comprehensive research project on the long-term effects of literary profile preschools could form the basis for a reform of the preschool’s activities with literature at the national level. Preschool library in Lund The Preschool library in Lund is an activity aimed at increasing parents’ awareness of language development and the importance of reading for the child’s continuing development. The preschool library began as a project with support from the Swedish Arts Council in 2011 and is currently operating at nine preschools in Lund. These preschools have an internal library with a reading corner and the district children’s librarian visits the preschool regularly for talks with the staff about teaching literature and suggestions for books. The staff at these preschools have also worked with stories within different themes. A key feature of this activity has been the lending of literacy bags to parents with a selection of books in Swedish and other languages. The report on the project indicates that this has been met with a particularly positive response. The method has entailed the district librarians’ visiting the preschool one morning per week and bringing the children 39