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The key to future libraries for children and young people
Dette materiale er lagret i henhold til aftale mellem DBC og udgiveren.
www.dbc.dk
e-mail: dbc@dbc.dk
Theme: Excellence in Library Service to Children
No. 3. 2008
Children's right to excellence in library service.Mats Hansson 3 Literary paths for children in Northern Finland.Helena Kokko 4
Tromsø Apple Library project for functionally disabled children.Elin Marianne Paulsen 6 Ten Commandments for the future children library. Anna Enemark 8
The key to future libraries for children and young people.Lo Claesson 10 Portrait of the Google Generation.Seppo Verho 12
The (more or less) bookless children’s library.Monica C. Madsen 14 The room as mediator.Monica C. Madsen 16
Days of children’s literature in Åland.Benita Ahlnäs 18
Gamers ... in the library?Jonas Svartberg Arntzen, Øyvind Svaleng, Marte Vatshelle Salvesen 20 Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. Access to Learning Award 2009 23
Scandinavian Shortcuts 24
Coverphoto:Beate Ranheim. Game evening at Drammen Library
Are library services for children up to date?
There has been much discussion about how library services should be developed to maintain the interest of patrons, especially young people. Library services for children must also be developed, i.e. what are the best ways to serve them now and in the future.
What does the library offer children? Are the collections diverse enough? Do the library personnel know how to advise and inspire children? Does the library offer other activities in addition to computer games?
The children’s librarian is specialized in children’s library services, knows how to acquire and recommend suitable library material for people of different ages, to organize story hours and other activities, to design web pages for chil- dren, and to listen to the wishes of children. The children’s librarian is irreplaceable, but children’s library services are an issue concerning the entire personnel; they are an important part of customer service.
Barbro Wigell-Ryynänen Editor-in-chief Translation: Turun Täyskäännös
Viewp int Edit rial
Barbro Wigell-Ryynänen Editor-in-chief.
Counsellor for Library Affairs, Ministry of Educa- tion and Culture, Finland
Tarja Mäkinen, Assistant editor, Administrative assistant, Ministry of Education and Culture, Finland
Libraries for children and young people have long been a high priority area for Swedish municipal politicians. Municipali- ties have had years of experience in suc- cessfully developing and maintaining libra- ry services for children and young people.
Effective models for cooperation between public libraries, schools, child care centres and youth clubs have been developed, but the very success of these models may have engendered a certain complacency – why be innovative when proven methods work so well? Scandi- navian public libraries, especially those for children and young people, have long been objects of admiration and served as examples for library develop- ment in other countries.
There is, however, always the risk of well-established activities stagnating.
Everyday routines might preclude ana- lysis or reflection, and the innovative might become merely monotonous.
This is why it is so exciting to be able, in the pages ofScandinavian Public Library Quarterly, to follow the inspi- ring projects and ideas that continue to revitalize Scandinavian libraries.
Dialogue, interaction and cooperation have become more and more impor- tant in the development of library stra- tegies, and nowhere is this more evi- dent than in children's libraries. Today, more than ever, the special needs of children and young people are taken into consideration, making it easier for them to influence library service content.
Library service for children and young
people is just as important as service to adults. Public libraries have a special responsibility to create and reinforce reading habits, and to be a resource in searching for and evaluating informa- tion. Through the diversity of library collections and activities children can discover for themselves the joy of reading and the excitement of explo- ring knowledge. In this way libraries contribute to strengthening children's and young people's personal growth and their development into active members of society.
Library service for children and young people can’t be discussed without mentioning the cooperation that exists between public and school libraries, the latter being an essential element of public library service.
The Swedish Library Act, which came into force in 1997, makes it clear that municipalities are responsible for pub- lic and school libraries: “Public and school libraries shall afford special attention to children and young per- sons by offering books, information technology and other media adapted to their needs in order to promote language development and stimulate reading.”
The act emphasizes the mutual respon- sibility that public and school libraries have by creating circumstances where all children have the opportunity to read for pleasure and to independently use information they have accessed.
Successful collaboration between pub- lic and school libraries is only possible
if mutual responsibility is taken by each sector. There have been sug- gestions that schools sometimes place unreasonable demands on local public libraries by not shouldering their share of the responsibility, i.e. neglecting to establish adequately staffed school libraries.
The Swedish National Agency for Edu- cation has stated that many school libraries are not freely accessible due to little or no library staff. The Agency also maintains that international re- search has shown there to be a relation between reading ability and access to school libraries.
The municipalities are the local authority responsible for both public and school library budgets, and in accordance with an addendum to the Library Act in 2005, are obliged to formulate library plans - operational proposals for library service in the municipality. The library plan should be a strategic analysis of overall library requirements in relation to learning, social, health and industrial sectors in the municipality. The plans should also propose measures suggesting how these requirements can be met by, among other things, recommending roles and responsibilities and defining mutual and specific performance objectives. In June 2008 less than half of all Swedish municipalities had ratified library plans.
Mats Hansson Desk officer Swedish Arts Council mats.hansson@kulturradet.se Translated by Greg Church
Children’s right to
excellence in library service
Mats HanssonEdit rial
cause any great upheaval in children’s library work because the Rovaniemi city library and the libraries in the rural commune were already working in close cooperation. Work in the children’s libraries is far-reaching and strives to obtain partners among various bodies. The work is also rather mobile, i.e. library staff, equipped with their book bags, visit schools, daycares, afternoon school clubs and parent- teacher meetings to talk about the wonders of reading.
The library’s cooperation with daycares involves familiarizing children with the library and the presentation of movies.
When children visit the library, the staff utilizes an idea from the Espoo municipal library; it is a game in which the children solve the mystery behind a mystery card, ponder over book aller- gies, visit the book hospital, and change themselves into a book being loaned. The Minikinomovies are pre- sented in the libraries every spring and autumn. The presentations have been organized for more than 10 years and last year’s 21 presentations attracted more than 1,700 viewers.
More than 350 school groups visited the libraries in 2007. The visits include a presentation of library services, use of databases, and guidance in seeking in- formation. The Regional Library of Lapland works in close cooperation with the Lyseonpuisto high school.
First-year students visit the library in the autumn and receive guidance in seeking information. Just over one- third of the visits by groups involve
presentations of literature and book recommendations, to help children find books best suitable for them and to offer alternatives alongside the best- sellers. Indeed, a recommended book is not necessarily the absolute latest in literature because there are interesting reads among older literature as well; it just has to be properly marketed. Book recommendations not only include fiction, but also non-fiction, poems, picture books and comics.
Participation in a number of projects The Regional Library of Lapland has been involved in many projects which promote reading. One of the projects involved book recommendations, teaching of information seeking, visits by authors and shadow plays. The idea was to present non-fiction literature in association with textbooks used in schools. Fifth- and sixth-graders from various schools took part in the pro- ject. History was chosen as the topic and book packages containing both fiction and non-fiction about the Middles Ages, the Iron Age, and ancient Egypt were created. Raili Mikkanen, writer for young people, was a guest speaker, and she told about the writing of historical novels. Under the direction of puppet theatre artist, Leila Peltonen, pupils made shadow plays of their stories. The project culminated with an afternoon together when pupils presented their shadow plays to each other.
The ‘Lupa lukea’ project came to an end last year. During the course of the project, library staff visited village
Literary paths for children in Northern Finland
The City of Rovaniemi and the Rovaniemi rural commune merged in the year 2006, which made Rovaniemi the largest city in Europe with regard to area. In addition to the main library, the Regional Library of Lapland has libraries in four of the larger residential areas.
The amount of loans exceeded 1.3 million in 2007, more than 33 % of which were taken out at the children and adolescent department.
The different library locations clearly have different roles based on age.
Adults account for most of the loans taken out at the main library, but in the smaller libraries, children and ado- lescents account for nearly half of all loans. There are more families living in the residential areas – when the library is close by, it is safe and easy to visit.
Moreover, school groups visit more often when the library is just a stone’s throw away.
Some of the villages in the municipa- lity may be as far as 100 km from the centre of Rovaniemi. There are village libraries in conjunction with ten schools and two bookmobiles that ser- vice the extensive area of the municipa- lity. The bookmobile has a total of 33 routes and 262 stops, some of which are near schools and daycares. Children and youth especially are the absolute number-one patrons in the bookmo- bile; nearly 70 % of the loans comprise material for children and adolescents.
Games, movies and books
Merging the municipalities did not FINLAND
4 SPLQ:3 2008
schools in Rovaniemi recommending books and providing tips for good reads. The project reached nearly 1,200 children and youth.
Teachers and teachers-to-be are impor- tant partners for libraries. Cooperation regarding children and reading has been carried out with the Department of Education at the University of Lap- land. Each year, students studying to become class teachers learn about the work in children’s libraries and book recommendations.
Books on the go
The Regional Library of Lapland offers anthologies for schools to use that con- tain fiction, thematic packages, poems and plays. The sizes of the anthologies vary from 10- to 30-book packages of the same book for children in different grades. At the moment, the collection comprises more than 300 anthologies, a total of nearly 8,000 volumes. The anthologies are available to all schools in the province of Lapland and trans- portation can be arranged with the joint transportation system in the Lapland library network.
Schools in Rovaniemi also utilize the library collections; reading packages are made from the collections upon request, or classes visit the library and borrow what they want to read.
Teachers in Rovaniemi are given class library cards, which they use to borrow reading packages.
Dancing into the world of poetry The library has strived to expand book
recommendations to young adults as well, working in cooperation with teachers of Finnish and literature in high schools. Anthologies representing various themes were put together, including books that were forbidden during different periods in time, litera- ture from Lapland, poems and plays.
The purpose of gathering together various reading recommendations was to introduce readers to the library’s diverse collection of material and lower the threshold for taking advantage of it, while at the same time to present literary works that teachers do not have time to discuss during lessons. There has been a demand for this type of cooperation even after the project was finished.
The purpose of the Runotanssi project is to arouse interest in living literature by offering a setting for various forms of art, poetry and dance. Dance is used to arouse a desire to read; what hap- pens when rhythm, word and motion are combined? Several different bodies are taking part in the project, the ef- forts of whom have helped to prepare the poetry and choreography for the presentations and to carry out the performances. Runotanssi visited various schools in Rovaniemi during May 2008, and the project will con- tinue during the upcoming autumn.
Other events intended for young people include ‘Kirjastorokki’ and ‘24 h’
comics event. The annual ‘Kirjasto- rokki’ was organized for the first time in the music department of the Regi- onal Library of Lapland. The occasion
Helena Kokko
offers an excellent opportunity to both local bands and bands around Lapland to perform. Throughout the years,
‘Kirjastorokki’ has grown to such an extent that it requires large premises such as youth clubs.
The library worked in partnership with the Lapland cultural network and the Arctic Comics Centre in organizing the international ‘24 h’ comics festival for the first time last autumn. Comics hobbyists conjured up characters and stories and drew their comics around the clock in the library’s facilities. The completed works were put in a joint exhibition in the lobby of the Regional Library of Lapland in May last. The comics event will continue in the up- coming autumn.
Helena Kokko Senior Librarian Regional Library of Lapland helena.kokko@rovaniemi.fi Translated by Turun Täyskäännös Photo: Tiina Niemi
Why place the Apple Library in Tromsø?
In the spring of 2007 the Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Autho- rity announced the availability of fi- nancial support for a two-year project which public libraries could apply for in order to establish the first Norwe- gian Apple Library.
The aim of the project is to create a pilot library offering good library ser- vices for functionally disabled children, which can be an inspiration to other libraries to follow suit. All children should be able to enjoy an equal stan- dard of services from their local library, whether alone, together with friends, family or classmates.
The means employed consist of a com- bination of standard universal design with special elements. Improved exper- tise and user participation are core strategies in achieving our goal.
We were chosen from among nine good applicants to establish Norway’s first Apple Library.
What is an Apple Library?
When we began the ‘Apple Library’
project in Tromsø last autumn, we received several comments from people amused by the name and choosing to take it too literally. In actual fact we are talking about a department in the li- brary which is specially planned and arranged to meet the needs of functio- nally disabled children.
The origin of the name and the inspi- ration for the Apple Library comes
from our neighbouring country, Sweden. As early as in 1993 the first Apple Library was opened in Här- nösand. Their inspiration in turn came from ‘The Library for the Handicapped Child’ in London.
The choice of an apple as a symbol for this special activity arose from the fact that the Härnösand Library received sponsorship from the American com- puter company in the form of personal computers, which naturally carried the firm’s logo.
The Tromsø Library moved into new premises in August 2005. This meant that a number of features later neces- sary to the working of the ‘Apple’
department were already in place from the start. These included markings showing the way to the entrance door, a lift for disabled users and desks which can be raised or lowered for the benefit of visitors in a wheelchair.
Since the opening of the Apple Library, however, a new survey has been carried out in accordance with an accessibility standard established in connection with the project ‘The Accessible Libra- ry’. By and large the premises met the relevant recommendations, but certain improvements have nevertheless been carried out. These include a hearing loop (Telecoil), the marking of stairs and all glass surfaces, guidelines on the floor with the apple symbol showing the way to the department, etc.
The department’s equipment includes a personal computer with adapted soft- 6 SPLQ:3 2008
The Apple Library in Tromsø affirms every child’s right of access to good books. The library is a two-year project initiated by the Norwegian Archive, Library and Museum Authority. In the spring of 2007 it was de- cided to establish the first Norwegian Apple Library at the Tromsø Library and Town Archives. The aim of the project is to offer better library services to functionally disabled children, while at the same time creating a model library.
All children have the right to books!
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child clearly states in Article 23 that: “A mentally or physically disabled child should enjoy a full and decent life in conditions which ensure dignity, promote self-reliance and facilitate the child’s active participation in the community”. A functionally disabled child has the right to special care.
The question is one of equality and of the right to participate in the life of the community; at school, at work and elsewhere. It is a manifest right that all children should be able to participate in cultural life. Access to library ser- vices is a democratic right, a right af- firmed in Norway by the Library Act of 1985, § 1.
A library, user-friendly and accessible to all, can play a significant role as a responsible participant in the local community, always provided it has the means and the framework necessary to exploit all opportunities.
NORWAY
Tromsø Apple Library project for
functionally disabled children
have thought creatively and looked for books and media from less traditional sources. In addition we have developed our own ‘packages’ aimed at making literature more accessible to a greater number of children.
We should also mention that a group consisting of staff from the children’s department, the project group, the library management and a local politi- cian has made a study tour to Gothen- burg and Kungsbacka, where they were able to benefit from the expertise and experience of their Swedish colleagues.
The previous project leader for the Halland region, Kerstin Frii, has been a constant source of inspiration to us in our work.
A vital aspect of a well-functioning apple library is the relationship between the library and its users. In order to come into contact with our users we cooperate with a variety of organisations, including of course kindergartens and schools catering for children with special needs. These contacts give us important information in our efforts to ensure that the apple department meets the requirements and wishes of its users.
However, the most important factor for a well-run apple library lies in neither the physical surroundings nor the col- lection, but in the competence of libra- ry staff. Our experience is that staff need to upgrade their knowledge with regard to a better understanding of the needs of the disabled and the chal- lenges inherent in the various types of
disability. We have paid equal attention to this aspect of the project as to the design of the building and the contents of the collection.
The duties of library staff are many and varied and in a hectic day’s work it is not always easy to give priority to the demands of the apple library. Our experience is that the establishing and running of these services is totally dependent upon the library being able to put aside resources for this parti- cular purpose, first and foremost a responsible leader to manage the col- lection and to maintain contact with users. The Apple Library in Tromsø was opened on the 26. May, roughly six months after the project was launched.
We are now in an initial phase which will present a number of exciting chal- lenges, the main one being to incorpo- rate the department into overall library plans, so that it becomes a natural part of our activities.
Elin Marianne Paulsen Project leader, Apple Library Project, Tromsø elin.paulsen@tromso.kommune.no Translated by Eric Deverill Photos: Tromsø Library and City Archive ware, trackball mouse, a special key-
board and a computer desk which can be raised or lowered as required. In addition we have chosen to categorise the collection somewhat differently from the traditional system. We have also used large signs with symbols and a simple text to make the collection as accessible as possible.
The department’s media include sign language, bliss, Braille, audio books and books with simple text and illu- strations. We have also tried to make the collection more accessible by com- bining different media, such as putting a printed book together with the corre- sponding audio version into one package. This combination offers greater possibilities and extra support for children with reading difficulties.
In addition to the physical surroun- dings, the infrastructure and the col- lection of special books and media, the Apple Library consists of specially designed services. We are also planning specific arrangements aimed at diffe- rent user groups
Our experiences so far
It is relatively easy to point out the practical steps to be taken when estab- lishing an apple library, mainly because guidelines already exist to make libra- ries more accessible to the functionally disabled.
Specially adapted books and media, however, are few and far between and even these are not always as suitable for our purposes as we could wish. We
Elin Marianne Paulsen
An advertising firm has designed the colourful apple logo which we use in a variety of ways to present and to pro- mote the library. Our apple symbolises that every child has the right to feed from the tree of knowledge.
The library is situated in the centre of Tromsø.
A new report gives recommendations and suggestions for the libraries’ services to children in Denmark. The goal is that the li- braries can match children’s actual every- day lives, media interest and various other cultural needs with focus on the position of play, social inclusion, cultural formation and good reading skills
Children have acquired new media habits and more leisure arenas, and this means that the use of libraries is de- creasing. The number of children using the public library at least once a month has fallen from 51% in 1998 to 39% in 2004.
This fact made the Danish minister for culture, appointed a committee to con- sider future library services to children.
The committee made an analysis and wrote a report with ten specific recom- mendations – and the conclusion is clear: The library is still one of the most important cultural resources for children in the local communities. But we need radical changes if we want to
make sure that the library maintains its status
as a central educational
institution for chil-
dren.
Impor- tant focus areas in this change
are the staff ’s ability to communicate with children and to support their cultural development and competences as well as their play culture.
Library services in the future must provide broad media experiences across materials and genres. Mediation should be adapted to the children’s need for participation, and they must be given exciting physical frames with- in which to expand. New partnerships with i.a. school libraries and more outreach activities are also areas open to change and innovation.
Challenges and new possibilities The library can no longer base it legiti- macy solely on giving children physical access to sought-after materials as was the case in the industrial society.
Today the library is not a concept with oneclear function: The library is both a physical building in the urban space/at school and a cultural institution in society. The libraries therefore have to find a new legitimacy and a more defi- nite profile in relation to children.
In order to support children in areas relevant to both their everyday lives and their future, the libraries must combine the library act’s three overall objectives about enlightenment, experi- enceand education.
Enlightenmentis not just giving indivi- dual access to information via search engines, portals etc. Enlightenment is also application with insight. The libra- ry’s task is therefore to contribute to developing children’s ability to trans-
form information into relevant insight.
Experienceis not just mediating fiction in book form and creating frames for cultural events. Experience includes all cultural expressions – visual, auditive and multi-medial. The library’s task is therefore to contribute to developing children’s quality awareness in relation to all kinds of expressions and to encourage their interest in the curious, surprising and provoking content in all kinds of materials.
Educationis not just the ‘measurable’
that takes place in the formal class- room. Education also happens in semi- formal rooms such as the library, and in informal rooms where learning is not the prime objective, when children e.g. learn the rules of role play in order to join the game.
It is the library’s task to help create frames where children in the company of other children and adults can ‘culti- vate’ themselves and develop compe- tences. The library cannot and should not be a school. But the library can be- come a bridge builder between infor- mal learning processes, individual net- works and formalised educational institutions like school.
The report has been presented on a number of road shows different places in Denmark, and the reaction from the librarians are very positive, so far: They see the report as a tool to make strate- gic development of their service and they are very open to solutions based on nationwide concepts which gives some clear advantages and possibilities to ‘pump up the volume’.
Ten Commandments
for the future children library
DENMARK
9 3. The libraries develop their net services
The libraries create new frames and facilities i.a. by exploiting social technologies and using staff as hosts and resources in virtual networks for children.
4. Children play – in the library
The library can turn play and play cul- ture into a central area of activity. The library can create space for play, make toys and games available and advise on games and toys.
5. The library gives children reading expe- riences and reading skills
The library continues the work on encouraging children’s zest for reading, reading experiences and reading skills.
6. Create assets in new forms of coopera- tion between school library and public library
Schools and libraries can work more closely together and coordinate services to children. Exploit the various compe- tences of the two library types by doing things together.
7. The library creates community feeling – also for those outside
The library adapts its services to chil- dren with special needs: Handicapped, socially vulnerable and children with ethnic background other than Danish.
8. The library supports learning and cultural development
The library supports formal and informal learning that enables children to grow and develop competences in coding, creating and exchanging text, sounds and images.
9. The library must reach out to children The library reaches out to children and offer services where children actually move around: Kindergartens, day-care centres, schools and associations.
10. The library’s management focuses on children
The libraries’ management prioritizes staff, money and time – for continu- ously rethinking, innovating and locally adapting the library’s services to children.
Instead of discussing whether we should focus on children’s cultural development or their information needs, on books or computer games, on places ‘to be’ or places ‘to learn’, we need a new foundation for develop- ment. A vital resource in the know- ledge society is people’s ability to create, interpret and exchange all forms of content in physical and digital media. Consequently, a new ‘cultural formation’ concept can form the basis for progressive library service. The concept includes both information, experience and communication, both intellectual and emotional learning components and ‘old’ as well as ‘new’
media.
Anna Enemark, Consultant on children and culture Danish Agency for Libraries and Media aeb@bs.dk Translated by Vibeke Cranfield The National Library Agency is now
working to support the implement of the recommendations and suggestions in the report. Development of new competences is first priority and there will be offered courses on diploma level to the stuff in the library. Beside that, a number of other initiatives will be taken by the Agency, launching a nati- onal granted programme concerning the library and social inclusion, e.g.
The report is available in printed and in digital form. Please send an email to post@bibliotekogmedier.dk to order one, or download it at:
http://www.bs.dk/publikationer/andre/
fremtidens/index.htm.
A summery of the report is available at our homepage www.bs.dk.
The committee’s main recommendations are set out as Ten Commandments:
1. New competences create new activities in the library
A new media landscape, new cultural habits and different demands and expectations require the development of new competences in the library.
Library staff must be more visible on the net, facilitate activities in the library and organise meetings and dialogue with users where they actually are.
2. The library space must create surprise and inspiration
We need new concepts for the design of the physical library space. The library must be attractive for children to be, learn and play in.
Anna Enemark
The daily lives and media consumption ha- bits of children and young people are sub- ject to rapid and continual change. Their overall use of the library has diminished and the way they use the library has changed.
How then can libraries in the future pre- sent themselves as an attractive option for this user group?
This was the question asked by three county libraries (Jönköping, Skåne , Västra Götaland) in the project ‘2020 Mars Ex- press’.
More than three years of intensive work, hundreds of participating chil- dren and young people, study visits, conferences, workshops, focus groups and field work have all contributed to the insights and experience that has become something that we have come to call ‘The Mars Express Concept’.
Listening to children and young people before we initiate changes has become a fundamental aspect. Familiarity with children’s and young people’s world view, their needs and their living con- ditions is essential.
If we want to create positive and lasting relations with this group then we must understand howthey communicate, and learn to communicate withthem.
It is essential that library staff are well disposed towards children and young people and ‘see them’ when they visit the library.
2020 Mars Express started in autumn 2005 and ended in February 2008.
Around 15 children’s librarians have participated, and during the last year, library directors and library IT-staff joined each municipality’s project team.
The project was divided into two phases. The First Stage was developing and testing methods to get children and young people actively engaged in the design and purpose of the library’s physical spaces. In the Second Stage we wanted to find out how new technolo- gies could help make the library more exciting as well as stimulating reading and learning – experimentally to begin with, but with an increasingly tangible presence in the libraries.
The natural starting point has been children and young people’s own sug- gestions, ideas and wishes. Several li- braries in the project had previously worked with focus groups, interviews and various types of questionnaires but we wanted to penetrate a little deeper and, together with children and young people, test other methods.
Another exciting point of departure has been Howard Gardner’s theories of multiple intelligences. If the library is really going to be an attractive meeting place for everyone then the physical space and the activities there have to reflect the way children express them- selves.
Study visits together with groups of children or young people and observa- tions made with and by children and young people have also provided in- teresting results.
We feel as though the most challenging and useful results have been reached when we have worked together with other professions. Using workshops has been very productive: We have conduc- ted workshops with cultural and educational pedagogues and social workers, with architects and architec- tural consultants, with designers and artists, with scene and stage designers.
Collaboration with other professions provides a useful perspective on one’s own profession as well as enhancing and increasing personal competence.
Ubiquitous computing
During the information gathering stage we came across the terms ‘ubiquitous computing’ and ‘interaction design’.
This felt like something that was rele- vant for libraries so we contacted universities specializing in these re- search areas.
We started to collaborate with teachers and students at, among others, The Department for Lighting Design at the University of Jönköping, Chalmers University in Gothenburg and the Computer Science Department at Mal- mo University’s School of Technology.
Technology in libraries is not just com- puters. Nevertheless new technologies can help to develop an environment conducive to creativity, learning, play and fantasy. Collaboration with science centres and museums can provide unli- mited opportunities. It is possible for a library to be much more than that with which we usually associate the term without losing its special identity. The
The key to future libraries
for children and young people
SWEDEN
10 SPLQ:3 2008
connection with universities and other institutions of higher learning gene- rates a number of positive effects for further development and spreads the idea of public libraries as exciting arenas for new ways of thinking.
University students have worked with several of the project libraries to pro- duce lightning designs and prototypes for technical solutions which can con- tribute to interaction between patron and the library’s physical space, in turn, stimulating the desire to read.
Now what?
What will happen now? Will things just go back to the way they were before?
No – with Mars Express it is obvious that a process has started. In several cases at least one of the project goals has been attained, namely that libraries in project municipalities start thinking in new ways as regards children’s and young people’s libraries. Changes have happened in all of the participating municipalities – either in the physical library space or in staff attitudes. Three examples of concrete changes/processes are:
• The Municipality of Molndal is buil- ding a new cultural centre to be inau- gurated in 2010. Lessons learned in the Mars Express project have had a broad influence on planning and thinking.
Even the Molndal City Planning Office now knows what Mars Express is all about. Children’s librarians active in the project have participated in work- ing groups and been able to influence architects and interior designers. A
digital workshop with a studio for di- gital media production is planned and a student of interaction design is buil- ding an interactive gaming room as part of his Master’s thesis.
•The Gislaved Library has been com- pletely renovated including new surface materials, specially created ‘considerate design’ furniture, RFID implementa- tion, etc. A windowless room features a workshop with a black box; here a stu- dent from the Department for Lighting Design at the University of Jonkoping has suggestions for lighting installa- tions to render the room more flexible and exciting. Sound domes have been installed. The project group has taken courses in storytelling and film editing with the idea of producing, for examp- le, digital book tips together with chil- dren.
•The children’s and young people’s department of the new Ostra Goinges library is going to feature a natural science perspective with a special focus on astronomy. Here, there will be a two-level space rocket constructed by interaction designers with areas for reading and interaction. The library catalogue will make it easy to find books on outer space and astronomy which will then be simple to locate thanks to special diode lighting on the bookshelves. Media packages for bor- rowing will be placed at the rocket.
Library staff have completed courses in storytelling so as to be able to work with natural science stories. These courses have been complemented with mime training in an effort to find more
ways of communicating with young patrons.
“It is stimulating to be made to think in new ways with 2020 Mars Express.
External impressions, our own efforts and the things we have seen with our own eyes all contribute to creating new processes for every one of us that parti- cipated in the project.”
Per Karlsson, children’s librarian, Nassjo City Library
“These days I see almost everything with Mars Express eyes. This means that I ascertain what children and young kids think before initiating any changes that affect them.”
Lena Jonsson, children’s librarian, Molndal Many other libraries have already been inspired by what has been done in the various project municipalities, as well as the lecture tours, conferences, etc.
which have been arranged.
A documentation of the project can be found at www.barnensbibliotek.se/
2020marsexpress.
2020 Mars Express was presented at the 74. IFLA Conference in Québec, Cana- da 2008 where the theme was: Setting Sails for New Horizons. 2020 Mars Express has pointed us in the right direction. Now it is time for takeoff.
Lo Claesson, Library consultant Regional Library of Jonkoping, Sweden lo.claesson@jonkoping.se Translated by Greg Church
Lo Claesson
SPLQ:3 2008
that the Google generation is more skilled in searching for information than the generation before it. This has proven to be a dangerous myth as it does not portray the truth. Adept skill in word processing does not necessarily mean adept skill in searching for infor- mation.
The CIBER report reveals that, accor- ding to library criteria, the skills of school children in searching for infor- mation have remained at a poor level from one generation to the next. Young people do not really know how to choose a database appropriate to their information needs. Furthermore, they easily overlook the best hit for their search results.
One reason for the problems is that small children, especially, have an in- complete picture of the structures of the Internet or information, nor do they possess the linguistic ability needed to express search terms that satisfy the lexicon in the search engine.
They would rather use natural language. One of the worst drawbacks for young people is their inability to critically evaluate the reliability of the information they find; they tend to analyze a website using dubious methods, such as basing the reliability of information on the appearance of the website itself.
The Google Generation feels that the information search tools in libraries are basically catastrophic. The lexicons and categories are difficult and signing into a system is seen as an obstacle. To this 12
generation, the tools libraries offer have swerved off the paths led by Ama- zon and Google far into ‘la-la land’.
What is needed is a search engine that utilizes intuitive and guiding library lexicons and other resources. With the help of data mining, ontology, thesau- ruses, authority data and mind maps such a search engine should be pos- sible. The website Ask.com has already embarked down the path of recogniz- ing search terms in natural language.
Information seeking skills for children CIBER refers to a study in which the researchers were surprised to find that the information seeking skills of teachers in high schools do not seem to be reaching their students well enough.
However, the study also revealed that using library services at a young age and being taught by parents or teachers how to look for information as a young child, resulted in good information seeking skills later on and this was also reflected in good school performance.
Information seeking skills should be taught at an early age. If it is left until high school or university, it may be too late. There is a strong social demand for the teaching of media literacy and information seeking skills.
Many Finnish libraries have seized the opportunity. Working in cooperation with schools, they organize teaching in information seeking on a regular basis.
This means that library professionals must also have some pedagogical skills.
An on-going media education project in Finland, coined ‘SuperLib’, is aimed at emphasizing the significance of
Portrait of the
Google Generation
New research has burst the bubble about the Google Generation’s traits of media be- havior. However, the generation is a diver- se one and demands that library services are intuitive, interactive and sociable.
The Google Generation refers to those who do not remember the time before the Internet, i.e. those born after 1993.
They have also been coined ‘digital na- tives’, the native-born dwellers of the digital world.
The real truth about the new genera- tion takes shape in an extensive report by British research team, CIBER, and a longitudinal study carried out by Finnish researchers in the University of Tampere (see further details at the end of this article). The CIBER report counters many myths, e.g. the new generation does not trust peers more than authority any more than other people. Moreover, people of this gene- ration do not use more time than others in communicating with others over the Internet; on the contrary, senior citizens were found to be more active in this respect. The Google Generation does not learn new techno- logical phenomena through trial and error, but through the use of manuals, like they should. People of this genera- tion want the information they are seeking immediately and in chunks easy to decipher, but on the other hand, so does everyone else.
The most dangerous myth
A commonly accepted myth has been FINLAND
media education and training both library professionals and teachers to become ‘SuperLibs’, i.e. media educa- tors.
The Google Generation’s sharpest profile Many of the myths about the Google Generation have been made obsolete.
In many ways they are just like any other generation, but in other ways they are in sharp contrast.
Indeed this generation is skilful in in- formation technology. According to a study in Finland, they are multi-skilled and they use several services and pro- grams on a regular basis. Many times, they have a number of different media in use simultaneously, surfing while listening to music, etc.
The Google Generation does not passi- vely follow the media; rather, they want to participate and do things them- selves. They communicate in Facebook, publish things on YouTube, write blogs and contribute to Wikis. This is evident in the decrease in popularity of passive media, such as television and news- papers, among people of this genera- tion.
For today’s children and youth, the Web is a powerful social tool. Usually, they use it to keep in contact with friends they normally see, but they are also able to reach others, with whom they share something in common and who live outside their place of residen- cy. Friends are extremely important to young people.
The social dimension is difficult The Google Generation’s favorite pas- time has begun to take physical shape in libraries. Equipment and premises for filming and editing videos, small recording studios, music rooms, game rooms and performance stages have found their way into the library.
The social needs of children and ado- lescents can be problematic as they would like to ‘hang out’ together in the library and this tends to cause clamour.
The Espoo Sello Library has experi- mented with the notion of the library as a social scene with great success.
Usually young people tend to vanish from the library but the library in Espoo has succeeded in keeping them as patrons and not only that, but in committing them to the library. Of course, it demands a lot from the staff, including new skills in youth guidance and counseling.
As the services of Library 2.0 become more common, interaction and partici- pation are increasing in the virtual li- brary as well. Libraries have also ex- plored their possibilities in SecondLife, Facebook, and in other social media where young people meet.
Social forums function according to the peer principle, and the library may not be a welcome visitor unless it is able to find something in which chil- dren and youth are really interested.
Not only does the library have to be present, but it also has to offer some kind of advantage.
According to the CIBER report, young people are not very interested in the social forums offered by libraries.
However, critiques of collections, commentaries and tagging could be successful because they support the library’s basic function. Young people also had a somewhat positive attitude toward book clubs and publishing lists of their own collections.
Being social is such an important di- mension of new generations that libra- ries should practice becoming more social until they have a knack for it.
Competition steps up
CIBER predicts that the competitive position of libraries will tighten up in the future. The explosive growth in Web publishing seems to be increasing as the threshold becomes lower and availability increases, for example with on-demand technology and the se- mantic Web. With this in mind, libra- ries should take the needs of the Google Generation very seriously.
Seppo Verho Chief Editor Kirjasto magazine verho@fla.fi Translated by Turun Täyskäännös
Seppo Verho
Viewp int
... friends are extremely important to young people but they are not very interested in social forums offered by libraries
A children’s library designed with children very much in mind and within the frame- work of the knowledge society – this is the underlying ambition of Aalborg Libraries’
development project ‘The (more or less) bookless children’s library’.
If the children’s library is to play a vital role in the knowledge society, it is not enough just to offer children specta- cular activities within a defined part of the circulation area. Traditional library practice, partly based on the book and partly on equating mediation with making things available, is obsolete in relation to modern children’s needs, according to the staff at the children’s library in the Aalborg Libraries.
The aim of the project ‘The (more or less) bookless children’s library’ is therefore fundamentally to reconsider design, activities and materials so that the children’s library no longer prima- rily concerns itself with mediating books, but rather with children’s own culture and the new ‘Bildung’ concepts and cultural perceptions that set the agenda in the knowledge society’s universe of children’s culture. In this way the library will to a greater extent be able to act as creator of frameworks for children’s interpretation of them- selves and the surrounding world.
In concrete terms the children’s library is moving 90% of its books into an open book stack in the basement and is arranging a number of different medi- ation sections centrally in the circula-
tion area, where computer games, books, DVDs etc. are presented in equal measure in relation to the users’
various needs. In order to match the children’s interest in media and media usage, 75% of the materials account is spent on play station, DVD and music and 25% on book material with the emphasis on the books the children ask for.
At the same time the librarians are very determined not only to keep the new media in stock, but also to mediate their content via activities in which they themselves participate actively and in an initiating way. DKK 100, 000, - are therefore earmarked for arrange- ments and activities during the project period.
The actual design of the different areas is done in a cross-functional collabora- tion between the library and interior designers from Scandinavian furniture store Ikea, The regional theatre and other local partners. Mediation of the materials is primarily to take place via activities around the children’s library’s various media, expressions and cultural forms, where children, media and librarians interact.
Each room is therefore designed with a view to exactly those activities and arrangements that take place there:
• The gaming den, a PC room where you can surf the net and test genre- categorized games for PC, PS2, PS3 and Nintendo wii before borrowing them to take home
• The laboratory, a science room with textbooks, DVDs and special subject displays about e.g. weather condi- tions, natural disasters etc., as well as PC, scanner, printer and practical help available to children in the homework café.
• The reading room, a ‘chill-off ’ room with soft sofas, special subject dis- plays and ‘I recommend’ exhibitions.
• The nursery, a place for 0-7 year-olds and their parents where they can play, read aloud and find materials
• The discothèque and the cinema, a mini cinema and a ‘listening post’
with display of CDs and DVDs
• The square, which is the first room you enter, with an exhibition area for materials from the other rooms, common facilities for the other rooms and service area.
In all the rooms all digital resources are exposed and mediated as well as all ty- pes of materials and new forms of me- diation such as podcasting, big screens etc.
In connection with the rooms there will also be a gaming club for boys, a manga club, a reading club where chil- dren and librarians regularly compete, exchange reading experiences etc. Help with homework in cooperation with the Danish Refugee Council is also on offer.
The library also presents various arran- gements with topical trends and cul- 14 SPLQ:3 2008
DENMARK
The (more or less) bookless
children’s library
Bole Theatre, Universitarium, AAU Spiluddannelsen, TRoA, GameSector.
dk and the association ‘Tinsoldaten og Biocity’.
The project has received funding from the Development Pool for Public and School Libraries. The project started in February 2007, the new children’s li- brary was inaugurated in October 2007 and was ‘run in’ via current evaluation until October 2008.
During the project 58 different arran- gements and activities took place and permanent collaboration with at least 20 partners was established.
The library is also mediating its experi-
ences to other interested children’s libraries at a final conference the 20. of November 2008.
Monica C. Madsen journalist, Bureauet mail@monicamadsen.dk Illustration: Dorte Karrebæk Translated by Vibeke Cranfield tural phenomena from children’s
every-day lives, which give the children the chance to actively confront the culture in which they live. For example theatre sport, babybooktalk, computer- intro for the youngest, search courses on the net, Singstar competition, com- puter games and animation workshop, chemistry show, author’s school, cele- brity visits, film marathon night, poe- try café, hobby workshops, recital and author arrangements, mini concerts and visits by a policeman or a zoo keeper combined with subject-related mediation of specialist literature.
The arrangements are planned in co- operation with relevant associations and institutions like for example Jako
Monica C.
Madsen
“Hi. I would so much like to lend a book”.
“Sorry - but we have many other good stories”.
Why do you attach such importance to a radically new design of the physical space in the children’s library?
- We wish to let the room act a tool for mediating our materials and know- ledge. Today the library’s physical space seems more like an opponent, because it doesn’t show what we are capable of at all – that we do in fact have the com- petences for promoting the media in equal measures, and that we can do so much more than just passing a book or a cassette over the counter.
It is therefore important to us to turn the design into a co-player in the me- diation process so that our competen- ces, our activities and the way we de- sign the room form a whole. In fact, we want to use the circulation department as a kind of showroom with different areas where the children can experience our materials and offers in different ways. And it is vital that the activities take place in the circulation area, be- cause this signals very clearly to the children that the library is a place where you can have a dialogue about more than just being handed the mate- rials.
In what way have you developed the new design for the library?
- During the spring we developed ideas for the design together with Ikea’s inte- rior designers where our librarianship competences and their design compe- tences were intertwined. And we have been talking about getting a display artist to help with our various displays of materials. We want to get away from the usual institutional furniture and display tables covered in velour.
How exactly are you going to mediate the content of your material through activities you participate actively in yourselves?
- Rather than just passing computer games over the counter we want to concentrate on the content together with the children the way they do it in for example reading clubs. Amongst other things we will arrange computer and PlayStation clubs where we sit down with the children and play com- puter games and set up tournaments and experience the universe of the games with the children. On their terms – with popcorn and cola etc. We also want to arrange learning activities like e.g. mini courses in photo shop so that you can edit photos for e.g. Arto (a danish chatroom for children).
What does this kind of material media- tion via activities require from the librarian?
- That we – in an interaction with the children – delve into the content. That is to say that we actively and with total commitment share with them the ex- periences inherent in our materials and thereby create the essential dialogue for getting the message across.
Why do you want to involve partners from outside in the mediation to the children?
- You often have a tendency to forget to draw on competences other than those you automatically meet in your daily work. We can for example use people from our IT department in workshops on picture editing or people from com- puter games shops like EB-games, who are superb at introducing games to the children. And we can put focus on the content of non-fiction books by invi- ting a policeman to come and tell us about his work, while at the same time we introduce the children to books about the police. Or a keeper from the Zoo, while introducing books on animals.
Why are you not satisfied with the way the children’s library functions today?
- We have a lot of books and rows and rows of bookshelves in the circulation area, but the book no longer plays such an important part in children’s lives.
The consequence is that we are making room for the other media on an equal footing with the books, both in terms of purchasing, shelf metres and the mediation as such. We are certainly not dropping the book, but we create space for the introduction of other media so that they can interact with each other as well as with the book.
As to the book, we should like to mediate it in new ways, like reading clubs, national reading aloud competi- tions, kindergarten libraries, literature pages on the net etc. At the moment most of our books are arranged in long rows with their backs turned towards the public, and when we arrange them so that people can see the covers, loan figures rise by 50%. We have therefore concluded that the endless shelf metres are in effect a barrier to attracting chil- dren to books.
As researcher Lotte Nyboe from the University of Southern Denmark points out in her study of children’s use of the library, many children be- lieve that they cannot ask for anything other than books at the circulation desk. And when you think of the mas- sive wall of books they are faced with in the library, it is no wonder that it affects the way children ask and the way librarians think. We therefore want to get most of the books down into an open stack in the basement and use the circulation area for activities where to- gether with the children we delve into the content of all the different forms of material and services that the library has to offer.
16 SPLQ:3 2008
The room as mediator Interview with project manager
DENMARK
Lotte Nyboe’s study shows that the new media are not being mediated actively enough – is she right in saying that generally speaking librarians are not sufficiently equipped to promoting the new media?
- Yes, I think so. The library’s task is to mediate and not just make material available and hand computer games over the counter. It is what is inside that is interesting to children. It is therefore important that as a librarian you get to know the new media and play the games together with children, show them how to use net services, arrange workshops where they find out that the librarian possesses knowledge which they can draw upon etc. This creates the dialogue with the children which is all-important in mediation, because this reveals what they think is cool and what is not.
How do you make sure that all libra- rians get the necessary technical know- how?
- Most of us are quite familiar with new media – not all of us are crazy about computer games, but we have grown up with the new media. So we do know something about them, although everything develops rather rapidly. Our team is composed accor- ding to our different skills, so we have for example a super specialist on computer games etc. By teaching each other and exchanging new knowledge we make sure that we are all of us reasonably updated.
We have made an agreement that we all have to be able to run a gaming club, and we therefore hold tournaments for the staff in e.g. PlayStation 2. We will also arrange workshops on e.g. blogs, Arto etc. These ‘gaming days’ is time well spent, because you develop
competences in relation to the new media when you get down to it and have a go yourself. It is an effective way to conquer any hesitation towards something unknown and to learn something about children’s own cul- ture in relation to the new media – i.e.
picking up the language and the con- cepts children use when they are gaming or chatting.
Have some librarians found it a bit difficult to change the daily practices so radically?
- No. We have been discussing matters for such a long time that nobody feels that they have been pushed into it.
Everyone in the team accepts that something radical has to happen if we want more children to use the library.
You can’t keep going round and round in circles. But it is, of course, a chal- lenge for all of us – everyday life won’t be the same again ever.
Do you have some advice for others who want to change the daily working routines as radically as you are doing – how do you get all members of staff ‘on board’?
- We spent a lot of time talking things through before writing the application.
We all realised that the circulation area was totally out of date and not at all able to compete with the other offers children come across in their leisure time. And we agreed that something had to happen in the circulation de- partment if we want children to go on visiting the library.
While discussing what we could do differently, the idea for the project emerged. And because we discussed it for a long time before writing our pro- ject application to the Development Pool for Public and School libraries last autumn, everyone has had sufficient
time to get used to the idea of change as a necessary condition chosen by ourselves – it is not something that we have been forced into. Everybody in the team being included 100% in the pro- cess all the way through makes for a positive and open attitude on behalf of all participants. And we have com- mitted ourselves to each other with certain rules for how we should act in relation to the new demands and chal- lenges we are going to face – that we have to be prepared to say yes to de- velopments.
At the same time we are well aware that it may be difficult to change our fixed habits in certain areas, and that we are undoubtedly not going to get it 100%
right the first time round. But via the current evaluation which we have built into the project, we have the chance all along to correct and change.
How do you make sure that you keep up with the children’s changing needs?
- We are going to appoint a children’s council, where we use the children as experts in relation to what is in, and what is not right now. The council will i.a. consist of representatives from our gaming- and reading clubs, and via the schools we will invite children from e.g. the pupils’ council so as to include others apart from our core users in the council.
Interviewer: Monica C. Madsen journalist, Bureauet mail@monicamadsen.dk Translated by Vibeke Cranfield
Sonja Ibach Nissen, Aalborg Libraries
Monica C.
Madsen
reading. Revealing the primary idea behind the event, Elspeth says, “Chil- dren should not have to settle for crumbs. Children’s literature should have the same status as adult litera- ture.” She continues, “Children should also have the right to literary adven- tures and events with writers.”
With this in mind, DCL began to take shape. A committee was established which comprised representatives from Mariehamn’s school administration, Åland’s library association and Åland’s school districts. The idea was to create an event for the children of Åland in grades 1-9. Visits by Scandinavian authors of children’s books would be organized in all schools, and the event would culminate with the Vimmelfest to be organized in Mariehamn’s city library.
Enthusiastic reception
DCL was organized for the first time in 2005. It was received with enthusiasm and the committee began planning the programme for the following year. In 2007, the Åland library association be- came the organizer for DCL. The pre- vious year the association had partici- pated in organizing the event with re- presentatives of the school districts and Mariehamn’s school administration.
Committee 2008
Members of the committee for 2008 included Carina Sandell, Monica An- dersson, Kerstin Gäddnäs, Agneta Wil- helms, Elsbeth Randelin, Gun Lind- blom, and Marie Norrgran.
The province of Åland, various foun- dations, institutions and associations have funded DCL. In addition to these, various enterprises and private persons have sponsored the event. Schools in Åland also participate in sponsoring the event by giving 5 euros per pupil.
The funds are taken from each school’s budget for cultural activities.
Before this year’s DCL a representative from the Svenskbygden succeeded in getting an interview with teacher Kerstin Gäddnäs, who represented northern Åland, Elspeth Randelin, who represented Mariehamn, and Gunilla Jansson, who is the cultural director in Jomala and chairperson for Åland’s library association. They formed an enthusiastic trio that bubbled with tales to tell.
This year all of the pupils in Åland’s schools in grades 1 to 9 took part in the event, as well as daycares and schools for pupils with disabilities, which means a total of 3,000 children were introduced to authors who visited each school. The organizers explained,
“The authors travel all around Åland, from Brändö to Fäglö, to the southern part of the archipelago and from Geta to Eckerö. Every school on mainland Åland receives at least one visit by an author with the exception of Lumpar- land, which meets their author in Föglö.”
Thirteen writers and one illustrator A total of thirteen writers had been invited to the event: Ann-Christine Waller and Anni Wikberg from Åland,
“I got to learn new things.
Now I want to start writing.
Reading books is more interesting now that I know the writers.”
(Comments from children at the Days of Children’s Literature, 2007)
Wind in the sails of Days of Children’s Literature
“Reading books is more interesting now that I know the writers”. This is what children, who attended last year’s Days of Children’s Literature (DCL), had to comment about the event.
Helena Bross, one of the writers who took part in the event, sums it up and says, “Everything was so well organized and really made an impression on me.
It was very positive to see that the DCL seemed to be a communal event.
People participated; they weren’t just doing their job, but exhibited true per- sonal commitment to it.” The key words here are interaction between writers and children and that the DCL event was a communal event on Åland.
Days of Children’s Literature!
DCL was organized in association with the 15. annual Mariehamn Literature Days. It is a similar event that arouses interest. This year’s DCL took place between the 14. and the 18. of April.
School librarian, Elspeth Randelin, blew wind into the sails of DCL four years ago. The force behind the idea was to increase children’s interest in
Days of children’s literature in Åland
18 SPLQ:3 2008
FINLAND
tables festively decorated just as in the Mariehamn city library. It is remini- scent of the Nobel celebration in that at one point the serving staff walk down the stairs carrying flambéed ice cream. DCL is a great opportunity and a source of joy for both children and participating writers. All of the writers are accommodated in the same hotel, which enables them to meet with each other and enjoy enriching moments together.
Passionate about the event, Gunilla Jansson, Kerstin Gäddnäs and Elspeth Randelin felt that DCL has fulfilled all of their expectations in relation to the fact that an interest in reading and a love of children’s literature have grown.
After having first chatted in Marie- hamn’s city library, we went to one of the city’s bookshops, which had set up a book display well before the Days of Children’s Literature. “The books have sold like hotcakes,” the shopkeeper told us. All three book-shops in Mariehamn sponsor the DCL event.
Benita Ahlnäs Librarian, Porvoo’s official tour guide and freelance journalist benita_ahlnas@hotmail.com Translated by Turun Täyskäännös Photo: Maria W. Boström Carina Wolff-Brandt and Yvonne Hoff-
man from mainland Finland, Jonathan Lindström, Monica Zak, Mecka Lind, Christina Wahldén, Moni Nilsson- Brännström, Per Nilsson, Kerstin Lundberg Hahn and Niklas Krog from Sweden, and Jörn Jensen from Den- mark. The organizers felt that this was an interesting group of writers for chil- dren. The organizers explained, “Moni Nilsson-Brännström is the holder of chair number 17 at the academy for children’s literature in Sweden.” Anni Wikberg is an illustrator and she works for the post office illustrating stamps.
She has also illustrated Ann-Christin Waller’s book Små sommarsagor.
Another interesting aspect of the event is that it has become so popular that writers actually ask to take part. The organizers emphasized that DCL is the first event of its kind in Scandinavia.
DCL is like a smorgasbord, and it is not just for children. There are evening lectures and the opening of an exhibi- tion for adults. The DCL opening cere- mony was held in Mariehamn’s city library on 14 April at 7 p.m. and Britt Lundberg, Åland’s Minister of Culture and Education, delivered the welcome speech. The idea is to make the Days of Children’s Literature an event for people of all ages.
Vimmelfest
Vimmelfest is intended for children in the fifth grade and it has been de- scribed by children as the Nobel Prize celebration for children. It is an event where 320 children dressed in their absolute best enjoy ice cream, sitting at
Benita Ahlnäs
