Promoting reading 1
understood as an activity for increasing reading
motivation, broadening reading interests, and improving attitudes to reading. A distinction can be drawn between studies in which reading promotion interventions, activities or methods are the object of the investigation, and research that indirectly can form the starting point for reading promotion activities. Empirical investigations of reading habits are an example of the latter. If the aim of reading promotion activities is to increase the scale of reading within a certain group and get more individuals within this group to identify themselves as readers, it may be of interest to know what the research says about this group’s preferences in terms of genres, to take just one of several possible examples. Internationally, there is a growing body of research on reading promotion interventions, in particular the measurement of effects of various kinds. Here it is wise to remember how hazardous it can be to make decisions on the basis of just a few studies – two researchers can arrive at diametrically opposed results in terms of the effectiveness of an intervention, and therefore provide arguments for and against the implementation of one and the same activity. In addition, isolated studies can vary considerably in quality and methodological stringency. An instrument for overcoming such problems could be a meta-analysis, which analyses the aggregated results of a larger number of primary studies. Presentations of individual, interesting research results will be combined with presentations of meta-analyses or compilations of research in the different areas. In a collaborative study from 2009 between the Swedish School of Library and Information Science and the Swedish Library Association (Svensk Biblioteksförening) the “effects of reading promotion activities” came in at fifth place in a top-ten list of important research issues that ought to be given priority. Academic studies of the effects of reading promotion activities in Sweden are rare. For charting the scope of knowledge about reading promotion activities in particular, two books are worth mentioning. The first is the knowledge review Studier av barn- och ungdomsbibliotek (Studies of libraries for children and adolescents) (2007) by Kerstin Rydsjö and AnnaCarin Elf, both of whom are active within the subject area library and information science. This review aims to present relevant knowledge in the field of children’s libraries. The study concluded that Swedish research in the field of libraries for children and adolescents is very limited, and the review is therefore based primarily on Masters theses from Swedish courses, even if comparisons are also made with the other Nordic countries as well as the UK and USA. Rydsjö’s and Elf ’s review concerns reading promotion activities for children and adolescents. The second book is Barnbibliotek och lässtimulans: delaktighet, förhållningssätt, samarbete (Children’s libraries and reading stimulation: participation, approach, cooperation) (2011) by Amira Sofie Sandin, also active in the field of library and information science. Barnbibliotek och lässtimulans (Children’s libraries and reading stimulation) is entirely dedicated to the reading stimulation activities of libraries and reviews the methods in a total of 93 reading stimulation projects carried out in Sweden from 2001–2010. Concerning research into reading promotion at children’s libraries, the anthology Barnet, platsen, tiden: teorier och forskning i barnbibliotekets omvärld (The child, the place, the time: theories and research into the world of the children’s library) (Rydsjö et al. 2010) is worth mentioning, in that it provides interesting perspectives on the reading promo14