Promoting reading 1
talking books, books in Braille, or books with gr
aded levels of difficulty. Methods have also been designed regarding the library space itself, for example, adapting the placement of media to children’s own orientation needs. Reading stimulation efforts also include collaborating with other actors in the child’s vicinity such as the school, preschool, open preschools or child health centres (Barnavårdcentralen – BVC). In a recently published report on reading promotion interventions from 2011 to 2013 in public libraries in six counties and regions in Southern Sweden, there are examples of story-time sessions, reading aloud, book circles, children telling their own stories and visits by authors (Schmidt 2015). If you take the time to orientate yourself among reading promotion projects and programmes at libraries, you soon detect a repertoire of basic methods, which are varied in terms of content, target groups, practical approaches and technical applications. There are also books of a manual type about reading promotion methods. Such a manual is Läslust och läslist: idéer för högstadiet och gymnasiet (The enjoyment of reading and stratagems for reading: ideas for upper and lower secondary school students) (2005), which deals with book conversations, book circles and reading aloud, for example. Internationally, there is quite a comprehensive body of manual-style literature on reading promotion methods, of varying quality. The purpose of reading promotion projects is often to try out new methods, or revive old, proven methods. Sandin identifies four overlapping motives for conducting reading promotion projects. It can be about monitoring what others are doing and knowledge development, that is, a desire to develop working methods that respond to new social needs. Projects may also be seen as opportunities to test a new working method, which there is no scope to do within normal activities. Furthermore, projects may be initiated for the development of cooperation. Finally, reading stimulation projects may be perceived as an opportunity for continuing education. In this context, Sandin describes in brief how a number of project reports point out a gap between the formal education of librarians and the skills needed to work in children’s libraries. What role can research play, then, in the practical work of reading promotion activities? The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) regularly publishes research reports related to library and information services. The report Using Research to Promote Literacy and Reading in Libraries: Guidelines for Librarians (Farmer & Stricevic 2011) outlines how research may be helpful for the planning, assessment and improvement of reading promotion programmes and activities at libraries. For example, research can measure the quality and impact of the activity in question. A project can be considered successful or not with regard to the: • process: how well a programme or project was planned and implemented • product: the impact that the programme/project has had on its participants. Assessing the effectiveness of a reading promotion intervention means answering a number of questions. The more fundamental of these include: • How many participants were there? • What was the quality of participation? • Who didn’t participate – and why? • How did the participants perceive the project? 16