Promoting reading 1
to encourage sports coaches to become reading rol
e models. The target group for this project was children and young people aged up to 18 years, sports coaches, parents, library staff and cultural event organisers. The project was carried out in five municipalities and involved seven libraries and eight sports clubs. The project was evaluated externally using questionnaires, interviews and observations (Bengtson 2006, Bingebo 2008). The final project report was written by the project manager, Kohkoinen (2008). The activities that the project management organised for the children and young people included putting together book bags in the form of sports bags with the project’s logo, a competition called the Reading Cup, author and lecturer tours, joint cultural and sports camps and booktalks. A calendar was also produced with sporty children providing tips on books. In one participating municipality, a sleepover at a library was organised involving the team, teachers and librarians. Activities also included movement sessions and author visits, boxing at the library and joint cultural and sports camps, where the children got to try out football, writing, karate, filming, shooting, art and drama. Libraries advise others who want to start similar projects to find a dedicated coach and keep the activities at a moderate level. The sleepover, booktalk and Reading Cup were mentioned as successful by representatives of the participating sports clubs. Some of the conclusions that emerged from the evaluations were that the project kick-off is important for introducing this kind of project. According to the project evaluation, the sports activity coaches did not show any interest in the project. To counteract this, it is suggested to use elite players as reading role models at an early stage. So, has the project helped to increase reading among children and young people? The opinion was that it is difficult to say. Whether or not the goals were achieved was also rather cautiously formulated. The view was that whether the project increased reading among children and young people cannot be measured in absolute terms. On the other hand, observations made in connection with the various activities showed that the children and young people participated with great enthusiasm. The final report stated that sporty children and young people had increased their recreational reading, for example by reading on the way to competitions. The main aim of increasing recreational reading among sporty children and young people was stated to be achieved through a wide range of activities such as booktalk, author visits, book bags and the Reading Cup. The objective of encouraging the coaches to become reading role models was stated to be partially achieved. The project I Rörelse targeted both boys and girls, but in practice, the overwhelming majority of participants were girls. This illustrates the problem of reconciling an inclusive aim with acting for target groups with greater need than others, in this case boys. References Aleman, Lotta & Ögland, Malin (2013). Att läsa är också en sport. Rapport och utvärdering. Regionbibliotek Stockholm. Asplund, Stig-Börje (2010). Läsning som identitetsskapande handling: gemenskapande och utbrytningsförsök i fordonspojkars litteratursamtal. Dissertation: Karlstad: Karlstad University, 2010. Bingebo, Leif (2008). Utvärdering år 3. Projektet I rörelse. Bengtson, Johanna (2006). Utvärdering av projektet I rörelse år 1. Brink, Lars (2000). Försvunna bokslukare?: om läslust och läsvanor hos elever i grundskolan i fyra Gävleborgskommuner. Gävle: Gävle University College. 59