Promoting reading 1
tion programme conducted as a collaboration betwe
en the trade union movement, ABF and En bok för alla (a book publisher). The idea for Read to me, Dad! came out of the Swedish Trade Union Confederation’s (LO’s) reports on members’ leisure habits, and the programme is based on both the gender dimension and class aspect. Read to me, Dad! started as a project in 1999 and subsequently developed into a permanent programme. It includes author visits, information about the language development of children, study visits to libraries and the distribution of free books to fathers and children. In 2013, Read to me, Dad! activities were carried out at around 30 locations in Sweden and more than 2000 men participated (Lundgren & Kallenberg 2013). Participant surveys and evaluation days were conducted as part of the programme. A guide to the programme has been written by Gunnar Klaesson (2011). A Masters thesis on this programme was written by Emma Larsson (2009). There are several similar projects around the world, where fathers are encouraged to read to their children and act as reading role models. In Germany, for example, the Mein Papa liest vor! (My Dad reads to me!) project was initiated by the reading promotion organisation Stiftung Lesen. The project description states that one of the project’s aims is to enable fathers to strengthen their role as reading role models. Here, too, fathers are urged to take on a responsibility as reading fathers. The Norwegian project Les for meg, pappa! (Read to me, Dad!) stressed the importance of good reading role models, especially among fathers of small children and other male adults. The project was initiated by Foreningen !les and ran from 2009–2011. Peers as reading role models Reading Champions Peers are an important category of reading role model for children and adolescents (Clark, Osborne & Dugdale 2009). That peers influence the reading habits of children and adolescents has been emphasised in research into attitudes to reading in particular (McKenna 2001). Several projects and campaigns have worked with letting children act as reading role models for other children. In the UK, for example, this method has been used to recruit high profile boys at a school to become “Reading Champions”, with the task of encouraging boys to read. A Reading Champion can be nominated for a bronze, silver or gold certificate for their efforts. This activity was initiated by British reading promotion organisation, the National Literacy Trust, and has been going on since 2000. Reading Champions has a particular focus on boys and men and male reading role models. Young People and Reading (Clark, Torsi & Strong 2005) was a study conducted in conjunction with this activity, charting young people’s reading habits, attitudes to reading, and factors that could provide reading motivation. Reading buddies The idea of role models lies at the heart of the Book Buddy Reading programme, whose basic idea is to pair readers who are at different levels. For example, children in fifth grade read to children in preschool, with clear benefits for both parties: the younger children in preschool have an older reading role model, and older children with reading difficulties are offered practice in reading aloud that they can feel comfortable with (McKoy Lowery et al. 2008). Similar activities exist at several schools in Sweden. In 55