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This article explores how ideal reading practices in the home have been shaped in Sweden throughout the 20th century. Previous research has shown that many of today’s ideals regarding children’s reading have their roots in the early 20th century (Hedemark and Lindsköld). This article aims to deepen that understanding by analyzing so-called “reading instructions” published during the period 1916–1933. These instructive texts shaped children’s reading practices through normative guidance rather than formal regulation, thus functioning as a form of soft governance. The analysis identifies two distinct knowledge practices expressed in these instructions: one grounded in a belief in the transformative power of ”good” reading and its positive aesthetic and moral effects; the other based on scientific and professional reasoning, where the right kind of reading was considered a tool for promoting children’s healthy development. A comparative discussion shows that several ideals from the first half of the twentieth century have been preserved and remain influential today. Norms articulated in these historical instructions – such as the emphasis on deep reading, oral storytelling, and parental responsibility, particularly that of mothers – continue to resonate in contemporary debates, policies, and reading promotion practices. By situating these continuities and changes within their historical and ideological contexts, the study contributes to an understanding of how normative expectations surrounding reading persist and evolve over time. While the societal problems that reading is expected to solve have varied over time, the hopes attached to what ideal reading can achieve have remained strikingly constant across decades.

The aim of this study is to discern to what extent, and for what reasons, Swedish academic libraries engage in reading promotion, aiming to increase leisure reading. Based mainly on a survey directed at Swedish academic libraries, the study maps the proportion of libraries involved in reading promotion of any kind, how these activities are designed, who their target groups are, and what arguments are made for engaging—or not engaging—in such work. Theoretically, the study draws on Carol Bacchi’s WPR-analysis. By analyzing the motivations behind reading promotion activities, for example the “proposed solutions”, the study seeks to uncover the implied “problems” they are intended to address. The results show that 60% of Swedish university libraries engage in reading promotion. Most commonly, this involves the display of fiction in various ways. Many libraries organize book clubs. When asked why they promote reading, respondents most frequently cited declining reading skills among students as the primary reason. This decline is perceived as negatively affecting academic literacy and increasing the risk of student dropout. Another key argument is the desire to foster a broader educational ideal—one that emphasizes holistic student development, in which fiction and reading for pleasure have a meaningful role. Among 40% of universities do not engage in reading promotion, and the most common reason given was that the issue has simply never been raised for discussion. A lack of time and resources was also cited as a contributing factor in a significant number of cases.

Detta kapitel undersöker hur svenska folkbiblioteks digitalt inriktade läsfrämjandearbete utvecklats under perioden 2018–2023, med speciellt fokus på digitalt socialt läsande. Detta kan exempelvis innebära digitalt förmedlade lästips eller organisering av bokdiskussioner via digitala kommunikationsverktyg eller sociala medier. Frågan är också hur arbetet med digitala läsfrämjandeaktiviteter påverkades av covid-19-pandemin 2020 och 2021, då biblioteken i hög utsträckning hölls stängda för fysiska besök och fokuserade på digital service. Studiens kvalitativt inriktade analys – inspirerad av Carol Bacchis analytiska perspektiv – bygger på beviljade ansökningar till Stärkta bibliotek, en regeringssatsning med öronmärkta medel till lokalt biblioteksutveck-lingsarbete 2018–2023. Resultaten visar att ytterst få av de totalt 1942 ansökningarna från folkbiblioteken i landets alla kommuner berör utveckling av just det digitala läsfrämjandearbetet. Vid en avgränsning till socialt läsande och digitala medier blir antalet ännu mindre. Någon tydlig förändring av läsfrämjandearbetet i riktning mot fler digitala aktiviteter går inte heller att se i pandemins efterföljd. Snarare förefaller den ha ökat längtan efter fysiska möten. Läsfrämjandeverksamhet på folkbibliotek är fortfarande i hög uträckning något som sker på plats med hjälp av tryckta böcker.

Digital Reading Promotion in Swedish Public Libraries: A Study of Project Applications to Stärkta bibliotek 2018–2023

This chapter examines how the digital reading promotion efforts of Swedish public libraries developed during the period 2018–2023, with a focus on digital social reading. This includes activities such as digitally mediated reading tips or organizing book discussions via digital communication tools or social media. The study also explores how the work with digital reading promotion activities was impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021, when libraries were largely closed for physical visits and focused on providing digital services. The study’s qualitative analysis—drawing inspiration from Carol Bacchi’s analytical perspective—is based on approved applications to Stärkta bibliotek (“Strengthened Libraries”), a government initiative allocating earmarked funds for local library development from 2018 to 2023. The results reveal that very few of the total 1,942 applications from public libraries across all municipalities in Sweden specifically addressed the development of digital reading promotion efforts. When narrowing the scope to social reading and digital media, the number becomes even smaller. There is also no clear indication of a shift toward more digital activities in reading promotion following the pandemic. On the contrary, the pandemic seems to have heightened the desire for physical meetings. Reading promotion activities in Swedish public libraries remain predominantly on-site and centered around printed books.

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.