There are more than enough video
stores and newspaper kiosks. Libraries
must show their strength and their
cultural and historical roots. We must
continue to promote Ibsen, but not be
afraid to move with the times. Young
people should be met by an up-todate
library service that takes them
seriously.

We should also be aware that adolescents
are often advanced readers.
Popular culture is sometimes very
demanding and to say that comic strips
are simplistic, as many people do, is a
sign of ignorance. The only person in a
library with whom I have discussed
Karl Marx was a 15-year-old boy who
had read Das Kapital, something very
few librarians can claim to have done.

The Free-choice Project

Between October 2003 and September
2004 the Bergen Public Library carried
out a comprehensive statistical survey
of library use among young people,
known as the Free-choice project. Participants
consisted of the four largest
Norwegian public libraries, including
the Deichman Library in Oslo, together
with four smaller libraries. The aim of
the survey was to evaluate young
people’s reading habits on the basis of
library statistics, the general opinion
previously tending to be that they
neither read books nor use libraries.

The survey reveals that the libraries
with the highest statistics for lending to
adolescents were those with the widest
range of media, not necessarily those
with their own section for young
people. Adolescents borrow films, music
and comics and an all-round, upto-
date collection sells itself. Even boys,
who tend to use libraries less than girls,
find their way to these libraries and
boost their statistics by greater borrowing
of comics, periodicals, films
and music. The survey also shows that
young people do not restrict themselves
to literature written specifically
for them as a target group. They read
just as much adult literature and children’s
books, choosing in fact from all
the library shelves.

The figures show that young people do
read, but not necessarily always what
librarians think they ought to read. The
encouraging aspect is that the majority
of children between 11 and 17 years of
age do in fact use public libraries, and
that 60% of the girls and 40% of the
boys take material home with them.
The project indicates that young people
are well aware of libraries and make
use of them.

Priorities and methods of approach

Young people visit all library departments,
reading not only books written
for their own age group but also literature
for adults, children’s books, comic
strips and periodicals. The Free-choice
project shows that they will read and
borrow wherever they find interesting
media. All library sections should regard
young people as potential users
and the best approach, as the project
indicates, is to offer the widest possible
collection of different media.

Active promotion of literature and
language can attract young people to
libraries.
At the Deichman Library the emphasis
has always been on books, and the staff
in the children’s and young people’s
sections possess considerable expertise
in this field. The aim now must be to
develop equal competence with regard
to comics, films and music, and to
make these media accessible to young
people through improved collections
and better presentation. The Deichman
Library has strong traditions with
regard to the promotion of literature,
and I trust that in time this experience
can be used in the field of comics,
music and films.

The many local branches of the Deichman
Library in Oslo have limited resources,
as is the case with most smaller
libraries in Norway. Media purchase
is a costly affair and the active presentation
of literature requires a large
number of books. Libraries are obliged
to set priorities and their differing collections
are often the outcome of the
interests and competence of the librarians
concerned. Young people have
been given low priority, although my
own experience suggests that to reach
them requires no great effort. All it
takes is enough interesting books or
other media and an open, honest approach
to young people.

Working with youth
at the Deichman Library

At Deichman’s Torshov branch we have
for the last 13 years ‘adopted’ secondary
school classes. During the course
of a month nine classes visit the library.
Here they are presented with some
ten books to be read and later discussed.

Through literature one learns language,
which is vital to playing a role in society,
communicating with other
people and understanding oneself.
Without language there can be no formulation
of thoughts and feelings. The
idea behind these ‘adoption classes’ is
simple. By regularly presenting the
pupils with books and telling them
stories in a setting where they are surrounded
by books and stories, their
interest in literature will be awakened.
The challenge to the library is to maintain
an up-to-date collection and to
present literature of topical interest.
The challenge to the youngsters is to
choose well and to form an opinion
about what they read. At the same time
they are getting to know the library
and its contents. They are becoming
library users.

In my opinion, telling stories and introducing
young people to literature is
the most important function of a
library. Our work with these classes has
become a tradition, a long-term programme
with a focus on books. There
is nothing particularly new or spectacular
here, but the genuine quality of
this meeting between young people
and literature gives results and useful
experience. In January 2007 we have 19
such visits from primary and secondary
school grades 1 to 10. Altogether
this means a total of some 475 pupils,
from a variety of different backgrounds,
visiting the library every
month for a period of ten years.

The Deichman Library will also challenge
pupils to use their creativity and
find their own forms of expression.
Comic strips have been a subject of
discussion and writing courses with
rap-artists have been held. The Deichman
Digital Workshop’s equipment is
central to the library’s projects, encouraging
the use of film, sound,
pictures and text to create and tell a
story.

The Deichman Library gives priority to
promoting its various collections and
to providing a stimulus. Our aim is to
contribute to creating social beings and
to be seen by young people as a factor
in their lives.

Bjarte Bakken
Librarian for young adults
the Deichman library
bjarteb@deichman.no

Translated by Eric Deverill