Promoting reading 1
have been marginalised as a result of the “femini
sation” of literature reading within the library and its activities. However, his thesis is that the library can be made into a welcoming and inviting place to boys by appealing to their wants and needs to a greater degree. To reduce the reading gap between boys and girls, one should start out from books that boys prefer to read. The issue of how to get young boys to read has higher priority than the issue of what they read. Sullivan’s position as a literature mediator may be regarded as pragmatic, according to the typology previously described. According to many studies, boys tend to prefer books with non-fiction content to a higher degree than girls. Furthermore, boys tend to be attracted to a certain type of fiction. Humour, sport, science fiction and fantasy are common preferences for boys’ reading. Sullivan therefore advocates programmes based on these genres. In order to reach young boys as a target group, he also recommends different types of outreach activities for the purpose of taking the library to where boys congregate. Examples include collaborations between the library and the Boy Scout Movement, the library and the school, and the library and sports clubs. From the other side, we should be working to get men to visit the library. Fathers should be encouraged to read aloud to their children. Sullivan also recommends the use of mentors in reading promotion, a term which appropriately enough comes from one of the key works of Western literature. It is in the absence of his father that Odysseus’s son Telemachus is raised by Mentor. Dads as reading role models Read to me, Dad! The role model idea is central to reading promotion projects and campaigns that specifically target fathers. Concerning reading role models in the inner family circle, there are several projects and campaigns designed to encourage and support fathers, or fathers-to-be, to act as reading role models for their children, often with the stated aim of influencing negative attitudes to reading among boys. One such project is Pojkar, pappor och prat om böcker (Boys, fathers and talking about books), which ran from 2006–2007 in four municipalities in Västernorrland province in Sweden, where boys with limited reading abilities in the early years of high school and their fathers were the target group. Male role models were also the main focus of the project Muhammad from Frostmofjället. Berättelser om manlighet i mångkulturella miljöer (Mohammed from Frostmo Mountain. Stories of masculinity in multicultural environments), a collaborative project which ran from 2007–2010 between the county library in Västerbotten and Jämtland county library, with a particular focus on socio-economically disadvantaged areas. Its title was a clear reference to what is considered Sweden’s first children’s book in the realism genre. Another project in which male role models were emphasised was Läsbryggan (Reading bridge), which was a collaborative project involving ABF, the public library, trade unions, schools and sports clubs. The aim of this project was to change men’s and boys’ attitudes to reading and literature, through organising “Read to me, Dad!” days, for example. The background to the project was an identified need for male reading role models and the need for collaboration between libraries and popular education/adult education associations (Eriksson et al. 2013). Läs för mig, pappa! (Read to me, Dad!) was the name of a larger reading promo54