This study contributes to a growing number of critical studies of reading that are seeking to understand how reading is constructed socially and politically. It addresses issues concerning why certain types of reading are deemed more appropriate than others in various contexts and historical eras. The aim of the study is to explore constructions of reading, reading promotion, and readers that can be identified in Swedish literature policy 2012-2013 in order to make explicit the implicit assumptions embedded in the politics of reading. This is achieved through a discourse analysis of the Swedish Government Commission report on Literature from 2012 and the subsequent Government Bill from 2013. The analysis focuses on the construction of the ‘problem’ that reading is supposed to solve, the subject-position of the reader, and the knowledge practices that underpin the construction of the ‘problem’. The analysis reveals that the main ‘problem’ is the changing reading habits of the Swedish population and the decline in the reading ability of Swedish children and youth. This is seen as a threat to several important societal values, such as children’s learning and development, democracy, “the culture of reading”, Sweden’s economic competitiveness, and the market for literature. Responsibility for the problem is placed on the school system, parents, and the use of computers and the Internet. The remedy is seen as the promotion of the right kind of literature. Furthermore, the analysis illustrates how the subject position of the appropriate reader is formed around the notion of the harmful non-reader. Similar dividing practices are constructed around youth/adult, pupil/teacher, child/parent, and son/father where the latter is expected to make the former a reader and thereby a desirable subject. The analysis also shows how two contradictory knowledge practices are joined together in the policy texts, where seemingly rational, objective, and empirical research is paired with humanistic Bildung values.

I föreliggande artikel redovisas samt diskuteras de resultat som min avhandling från 2009. Det föreställda folkbiblioteket. En diskursanalytisk studie av biblioteksdebatter i svenska medier 1970−2006 visar på. I avhandlingen studeras ett antal debatter om folkbibliotek och fokus ligger på att identifiera vilka föreställningar om folkbibliotek som framkommer i de offentliga samtal som äger rum i media. Utifrån ett diskursanalytiskt angreppssätt analyseras vilka som är de mest framträdande debattörerna i olika biblioteksdebatter och också vilka intressen som ligger bakom den argumentation om folkbibliotek som förs fram i media under perioden 1970–2006. Syftet med denna artikel är således att redovisa studien,diskutera vilka föreställningar om folkbibliotek som dominerar den massmediala framställningen samt vilka eventuella konsekvenser det kan få. Jag analyserar i denna artikel också en relativt ny biblioteksdebatt från 2009 och sätter denna i relation till debatterna under de tidigare decennierna.

This article reports on an empirical study of children's librarians' activities supporting the development of literacy among very young children. The theoretical framework stems primarily from a LIS practice-theoretical perspective where literacy is viewed as corporeal practice. The empirical material consists of a transcript from one focus-group interview with seven children's librarians, and field notes from a series of seven documented observations of program sessions at three public libraries in Sweden. A qualitative content analysis was undertaken, and the empirical material was interpreted with an analytical focus on the concepts of literacy activities, embodiment, and literacy practices. The study shows how bodies act as sites of information and communication. Not only the bodies of the librarians but also the bodies of parents and the children acted as central sites, affecting literacy practices during library programs. The librarians express that their engagement in professional practice has resulted in a certain bodily sense for finding the right level of communicating with babies. The librarians have also learned to trust this embodied judgement as part of their professional expertise.

This article examines Swedish literature policies since the 1970s and the construction of the literate child as expressed in policy texts. Literacy has in the past few decades, in Sweden as well as in other countries, been linked to economic growth and citizenship. In these political processes, some reading practices are considered beneficial and others less beneficial or even harmful. Using Carol Bacchi's policy analysis, this study reveals an increased interest in children's reading practices. There has been a movement in the argumentation from identifying the lack of access to high-quality literature to emphasising lack of reading ability as the main problem. Also noticeable is that the responsibility of educating children about the virtues of reading is placed on parents in the later policy texts, whereas institutions such as school and libraries are defined as the sole reading educators in earlier policies. The results presented in this study shed light on the changing conditions for library work.

Bibliotekarie, Gnesta bibliotek Ellen Jonsson har en masterexamen i ABM (Arkivvetenskap, Biblioteks-och informationsvetenskap, Musei-och kulturarvsvetenskap) från Uppsala universitet med inriktningen biblioteks-och informationsvetenskap. För närvarande arbetar hon som bibliotekarie på folkbibliotek.