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Introduction. The ability to read and interpret different types of text can be significantly impacted by neuropsychiatric disabilities, which affect cognitive abilities. This paper explores and reviews previous studies within library and information science on neuropsychiatric disabilities in relation to reading practices.  

Method. Searches were performed in LISA and LISTA to identify research on readers with neuropsychiatric disabilities. Results were screened and 14 peer reviewed articles were chosen for inclusion. Utilising content analysis, the examined articles were deductively and inductively categorised according to the following themes: impairment, user group and context, research design, assistive technologies for reading, reading for information seeking, reading for evaluation, and reading, self-efficacy and identity.

Findings. Most articles address dyslexia. The majority of studies have been conducted in educational settings and have an experimental research design. Six studies address assistive technologies for reading, the remaining eight concern reading in relation to information practices.

Conclusion. There is an imbalance in the types of impairments that have been addressed in previous research. Few studies concern everyday reading practices and more research outside of educational contexts is needed. Furthermore, there is a lack of research that delves deeper into the experiences of readers with neuropsychiatric disabilities.

Artiklarna i denna festskrift anknyter på olika sätt till Prof. Kerstin Rydbecks forskning och akademiska karriär på Uppsala universitet. Hon har ägnat sin forskargärning till frågor som rör folkbildning, läsning och folkbibliotek. Ett flertal kapitel diskuterar således läsning från olika perspektiv, framförallt metoden Shared Reading. Det finns kapitel som anknyter till folkbildningsforskning, biblioteks- och kulturarvsforskning i Sverige och i Norden samt även artiklar som problematiserar bibliometri, universitetens offentliga roll, samt digital humaniora. Därtill belyser flera kapitel Kerstins insatser inom Uppsala universitet och i olika former av internationella samarbeten. Tanken med boken är att uppmärksamma Kerstins forskargärning, men samtidigt också skapa ett betydande bidrag till kunskap och forskning inom de områden där hon har varit och är verksam. 

This paper analyses significant changes in the political rationality underpinning Sweden’s official reading policy between the 1940s and 1980s. Using official inquiry reports as empirical material and drawing on a discourse analytical method, we examine policy changes regarding ideal readers (what reading should result in) and administrative practices (what policy actions could be used) and the kinds of academic knowledge that was used to justify specific measures. It is found that official reading policy ceased to be limited to distributing literature and expanded to include active reading promotion. The replacement of sociological perspectives by cognitive viewpoints as constituting knowledge is also noted. It is concluded that changes in the political rationality had consequences for how the individual reader was construed, from a subject with the potential to change society to a subject who had to adjust to society. We argue that the cultivation of readers evident in reading policy constitutes a specific technique of governance not sufficiently considered in previous cultural policy research.

Introduction: This paper introduces an emerging area of research, critical studies of reading, that has been identified and developed by the authors.

Approach: Seven features of critical studies of reading research are introduced and the paper argues for how this type of research can shed new light on historical and current reading practices and reading activities. Examples of studies with such features within library and information science, as well as neighbouring disciplines are presented.

Conclusions: Future directions for critical studies of reading research are outlined, highlighting the possibilities, as well as the challenges for this emerging area of research.

Research speaks of a disconnect between young adults and library culture. Young adults, despite having overall low expectations, often show dissatisfaction with library services, while librarians perceive teens as both a prioritized user group, and a problematic group of users. Ninety-two young adults participated in a focus-group study. The interviews revolved around their views on reading and public library services. Results showed that young adults’ choices to engage in reading practices are influenced by the context of the practice, the motivation for engaging in the practice and the format used.

Syftet med artikeln är att undersöka hur politik inom området barns och ungas läsning utformats och motiverats under en tidsperiod på cirka hundra år. Analysen omfattar politiska debatter om läsning från tre tidsperioder: 1910-talets diskussion om ”främjande av god och billig nöjesläsning”, 1950-talet med den politiska debatten om förströelselitteratur och seriemagasin, samt 2010-talet och den politiska diskussionen om sjunkande läsförmåga och läsfrämjande insatser som följde i spåren av resultaten från 2012 års PISA-undersökning. Fokus ligger på den syn på barns läsning och litteratur som kommit till uttryck i den kulturpolitiska diskussionen samt de ideal och värden som kopplas till litteratur och läsning. Studien knyter an till forskningsfältet kritiska lässtudier. En annan teoretisk utgångspunkt är den moderna barndomsforskningen och begreppsparet beings och becomings. En slutsats är att barns läsning under samtliga tre tidsperioder framhålls som mycket betydelsefull, både för det enskilda barnet och för samhällets framtid. Det finns också skillnader. Över tid har diskussionen rört sig från frågan om en materiell brist på tillgänglig god litteratur till att istället handla om en oro för minskat läsande och bristande läsförmågor. Medan 1910-talets och 1950-talets diskussioner kretsar kring ”god” kontra ”dålig” litteratur ligger fokus i 2010-talets diskussion på läsning som aktivitet och på olika sätt att tillgodogöra sig läsning. Både 1910-talets och 1950-talets diskussioner präglas av en syn på barn som becomings. Becoming-perspektivet är framträdande även i 2010-talets diskussion, men där finns samtidigt en idé om barn som aktörer med rätt att bli lyssnade till. Utvecklingen ställer nya krav på samt skapar nya förutsättningar för de professioner som arbetar med läsfrämjande verksamheter riktade till barn.

This article explores how politics in the field of children’s and young people’s reading have been formulated and motivated over a period of hundred years. The analysis covers political debates on reading from three periods: the discussion in the 1910s concerning the promotion and mediation of qualitative and inexpensive literature, the political debate in the 1950s concerning literature and comic books for entertainment, and the political discussion concerning the decreasing reading ability, as revealed by the results from PISA 2012. The views on children’s reading and the notion of literature, articulated in the debates, form the analytical focus, as well as the ideals and values connected to reading and literature. The study relates to the developing field of Critical Studies of Reading. Another theoretical point of departure is Childhood Studies and the concepts of children as beings or becomings. One important finding is that fostering the “right” reading practices is seen as highly relevant during all three periods, both for the children themselves and for the future of society. There are also differences. Over time, the main argumentation in the debates moved from emphasizing the lack of access to high-quality literature to emphasising lack of reading ability and lack of interest in reading as main problems. While the discussions of the 1910s and 1950s are dominated by a concern for “good” versus “harmful” literature, the discussions in the 2010s focus on reading as a practice. In both the 1910s and the 1950s we find a view of children as becomings. This approach is strong also in the 2010s, at the same time children are here conceived as “beings”. The results shed light on and contributes to an understanding of the changing conditions for professions working with the promotion of reading for children.