Promoting reading 1
talks about the rise and fall of the workplace li
brary. Almerud divides the development of workplace libraries into three phases: • A trial period in the early 1970s. • An establishment and development phase with the support of cultural policy initiatives, in particular state aid, from the mid-1970s to the early 1990s. • A cutting back and stabilising period from the end of the 1980s onwards. Many of the workplace libraries started by trade unions were initiated as part of larger reading promotion projects. Almerud thinks that a well-functioning workplace library can be an effective way of promoting reading because the books are made available, and because the existence of a workplace library at a workplace affects attitudes to books and reading among employees. Since the workplace library has a reading promotion function regardless of who is responsible for it, Almerud stresses that renewed efforts should not just cover workplace libraries within the framework of the public library, but also independent workplace libraries, and workplace libraries operated by trade unions. In her report, Nina Frid expresses the opinion that workplace libraries would have the greatest opportunities for development if unions, companies, the Swedish Writers’ Union, ABF (the Workers’ Educational Association) and the Swedish Library Association all work together on the issue, irrespective of who is principally responsible for any individual library. Truckstop libraries A relatively new form of workplace library is the truckstop library. The first truckstop library in Sweden was opened in 2004 at the roadside café Tönnebro, an initiative of the Swedish Transport Workers Union and the Hotel & Restaurant Workers Union (HRF). The truckstop library acts as common workplace library for these unions and through its lending of audiobooks and paper books it aims to increase the availability of books – and thereby increase reading among café and restaurant employees and professional drivers. Some truckstop libraries offer download stations where you can borrow audiobooks by downloading them directly to your computer or mobile phone. There are currently twelve truckstop libraries in Sweden. A map of the truckstop libraries in Sweden is available on the website of the Swedish Transport Workers Union. A Masters thesis in library and information science studying truckstop libraries has shown that there are professional drivers who borrow up to 8–9 audiobooks per month from these libraries, while they virtually never read books in paper form (Andersson & Hjertström 2006). Book buses, book boats and other mobile libraries A “mobile library” means quite simply a library that does not stay in one place. This definition is also the basis of the report Mobile Library Guidelines (Stringer 2010), published by the International Federation of Library Associations (IFLA). This report provides guidelines for mobile library activities and contains a number of colourful examples of mobile libraries, including a Thai elephant library. A history of mobile libraries in Sweden could begin with what were termed travelling libraries, an activity initiated around the turn of last century by the adult education associations, workers’ libraries, and the student unions Verdandi and Heimdal. This activity subsequently 92