Community-based literature education

For literature to be able to produce joy and pleasure on its own, the reader must “believe” in the text, i.e. dive into the world of fiction. This requires the ability to commit and engage oneself to reading. The best way to reach this goal in a group of children is through shared experiences provided by community reading. For example, a bedtime-story shelf that children can use to borrow books after school or nursery school helps children to commit to reading (Aerila & Kauppinen 2019). Children will thus read different kinds of books on a regular basis and have an active role in acquiring books. Children’s own book recommendations also work as a snowball effect, and they will begin to exchange ideas about books and recommend them to each other without external prompts.

Communities of readers support each individual’s literacy. This is why creating a culture of reading in schools and early education is one of the most important goals of literature education. Schools and nursery schools do not have to be solitary actors driving this development. In addition to the help they receive from parents, they can seek assistance from Finnish libraries, who will certainly lend a hand to maintain and develop reading culture. Reading programmes have been developed in many municipalities through collaboration within the culture and education sector. These programmes consist of reading tips, reading diplomas and library visits that build a bridge from toddler to secondary education.

Many volunteer and non-profit organizations provide activities, which lead children and families to the world of literature. Interest in literature and appreciation of literacy connect people from different backgrounds. Moreover, reading has positive effects on, for example, concentration, logical reasoning, creativity and the ability to use imagination. This is why many sports clubs, individual athletes and artists are willing to make an effort to promote children’s literacy (Aerila & Laiho 2019; Andersson 2015). The captain of the Finnish national football team, Tim Sparv, and the ice hockey goaltender, Kevin Lankinen, among others, have emphasized the meaning of reading and books as a part of the reason for their success in sports.