Several recent surveys have revealed that
reading ability among Norwegian children
and young people is at a disturbingly low
level.
Both the Ministry of Cultural and Church
Affairs and the Ministry of Research and
Education have therefore announced the
availability of funding for initiatives aimed
at stimulating an interest in reading. Libraries
clearly have a central role to play in
any national campaign to improve reading
skills.
Low levels of literacy
Both PISA (Program for International
Students Assessment) and PIRLS
(Progress in International Reading Literacy
Study) show that many children
and young people in Norway, particularly
boys, have poor reading skills.
20% of 15-year-olds have such difficulties
with reading and writing as to
be functionally illiterate. Young people
read far fewer books now than just a
few years ago and according to Vidar
Ringstad and Knut Løyland in their report,
The Norwegian Book Branch at
the Millennium, if this trend continues
the very young will have ceased to read
books at all by the year 2014.
Reading strategy in Norway
In order to achieve a more comprehensive
approach and a long-term strategy
to promote literature in Norway, the
Ministry of Cultural and Church Affairs
and the Ministry of Research and
Education have begun to co-operate
more closely. Through the national
programme for arts and culture in
education (Den kulturelle skolesekken)
and the initiative Make Room for
Reading, they have made funding
available for projects aimed at stimulating
interest in reading and promoting
literature. Resources are to be better
utilised, ideas for projects are to be improved
and developed, and the existing
professional networks are to be used
far more strategically.
Den kulturelle skolesekken
This project, which translates roughly
as the cultural schoolbag, is Norway’s
national programme for arts and culture
in education. A result of co-operation
between the Ministry of Cultural
and Church Affairs and the Ministry of
Research and Education, this project is
aimed at “providing each and every
schoolchild with broad and regular
contact with professional cultural activities”.
One of the criteria for success is
that the educational and cultural sectors
should co-operate at all levels; locally,
regionally and nationally.
In 2003 the funding available for stimulating
an interest in reading amounted
to NOK 5 million. Approximately
16% of these funds went directly to the
library sector. Libraries are also often
co-operating partners in other projects
but only in a subordinate role. The following
are a few examples of literary
projects which have received grants
from the national programme for arts
and culture in education.
A year for reading
The association “!les” (!read) – www.
foreningenles.no – has been granted financial
support for its project A year
for reading. The aim of the project is to
persuade more people to read more
books, to promote a wider knowledge
of Norwegian literature and, above all,
to inspire young people to enter the
world of literature. The association intends
to use A year for reading to set in
motion a number of initiatives which
can continue beyond the year of the
project. These include a Norwegian national
reading championship, a Young
People’s Prize for Literature, a scheme
for voluntary helpers and a Festival
Relay. In this way the project will not
only provide one year of inspiration for
many but will also be of lasting value
for the promotion of Norwegian literature.
United in the pleasure of reading
Politicians are very concerned about
the fact that boys between the ages of
10 and 16 often become literary dropouts.
Grants have therefore been offered
to projects aimed at encouraging
boys to read more. The public library
in Kristiansund has obtained financial
support for its project United in the
pleasure of reading. The intention is to
use well-known, literate football players
as role models and promoters of an
interest in reading among boys in the
three final years at school. The players
will visit schools on several occasions,
setting up reading competitions with
prizes and signed diplomas. In good
football tradition the plan is to have several
divisions offering promotion to a
higher division as a reward for greater
reading.
Not simply words, but also money!
Make Room for Reading Project
This project, planned to last for the period 2003 – 2007, has been allocated an annual
budget of NOK 20 million.
The National Programme for Arts and Culture in Education
In 2003 a sum of NOK 60 million was set aside to finance artistic and cultural initiatives
in schools throughout the country. By 2005 this amount will have been increased
to NOK 180 million. In 2003 the Archive, Library and Museum Authority was provided
with a total of NOK 24 million to fund national projects, 5 million of which went
towards promoting and improving reading skills.
Winston Churchill is quoted as once having said that there is no finer investment for
any community than putting milk into babies. Following the same line of thought,
Norway’s one-time Minister of Culture, Ellen Horn, suggested that there is no better
investment than giving children the desire and enjoyment of reading.
Den kulturelle skolesekken
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Make room for reading
The Ministry of Research and Education’s
initiative Make Room for Reading
– a strategy to promote the desire to
read and to improve reading skills
2003-2007 provides a list of 38 concrete
measures to place reading on the
agenda. Since this programme is initiated
by the school sector it has greater
emphasis on the teaching of children to
read as compared to the national programme
for arts and culture in education.
Nevertheless the two programmes
do overlap to some extent, as can be
seen from No 2 in the list of measures
proposed in Make Room for Reading.
“Procedure
It is important to stimulate pleasure in
reading, particularly where boys in the
13-16 age range are concerned, by introducing
measures which make reading
interesting. Schools should be encouraged
to set aside time for reading
every day without making conditions
as to what must be read or how.
Meetings with authors, writing workshops,
dramatisation and narration can
provide an extra stimulus to school
work. Advantage can be taken of the
national programme for arts and culture
in education when introducing such
initiatives.
School teachers should ensure that
their schools are able to create and
maintain good libraries. A school library
which is open during school hours,
possesses a wide and interesting collection,
offers a good range of other material
and is run by a competent librarian,
will prove a significant factor in
enhancing the pupils’ pleasure in reading
and in improving reading skills.
Organiser/responsible person: The
Norwegian Board of Education,
school authorities, head teachers.
Time frame: Continuous”
Other aspects of the programme where
libraries come in as co-operating partners
and advisers on appropriate requirements
are for example “national
network”, “greater parent participation”
and “voluntary assistance”. The following
is an example of a project
which satisfies the criteria set both by
the national programme for arts and
culture in education and by Make
Room for Reading.
Creating readers
There is the problem that teachers find
it difficult to remain updated on new
Norwegian literature for children and
young people. The Bergen Public Library
has received funding for Creating
readers, a project directed at a selection
of teachers and their 4th year classes in
the Bergen elementary schools. The
aim of the project is to improve the
teachers’ knowledge about new, current
literature for children and young
people and to promote the presentation
of literature in general. To achieve
this aim the library will assist 50 or so
teachers at 4th class level in 21 elementary
schools in their efforts to improve
the reading skills of their pupils.
The nature of the work consists of
close monitoring and co-operation
with the teachers in connection with
their individual preparation of lessons,
although always on the terms of the
teachers and in relation to the school
syllabus. The library will place at the
teachers’ disposal the methods and expertise
of the librarians with regard to
fiction and non-fiction for children.
The project requires the librarians involved
to familiarise themselves closely
with teaching programmes and syllabus
requirements, not least the arrangements
and working methods of each
individual school.
Interest for such initiatives to improve
reading skills has been more than satisfactory.
Although only NOK 5 million
was available to assist projects, total applications
amounted to NOK 60 million;
clear evidence of the scale of involvement.
We can only hope that interest
among politicians will be maintained
and that the projects now set in
motion will prove successful.We must
ensure that the funds are used to the
greatest direct benefit of each individual
pupil and that these projects lead
to many active and enthusiastic new
readers.
Translated by Eric Deverill
Portrait by Signy Irene Karlsen
