The matter in summary Author Bjørn Vatne says that the reading skills of young people are declining, something he sees as critical. He suggests changing the autumn holiday to a reading holiday, something that has already been done in Sweden. Water encourages daily reading, in the same way that you exercise regularly. He recommends a visit to the library during the autumn holidays. Librarian Kari Nesdal supports the proposal for a reading holiday and says that the library organizes many activities aimed at children during the autumn holidays. Åshild Solevåg, who visits the library with her children, believes it is important that children read. The summary is made by an AI service from OpenAI. The content is quality assured by news’s journalists before publication. Vatne will christen the autumn holiday a reading holiday, as Sweden has done. – I think that now that we are not so busy picking up potatoes anymore, most of us, we can invest our time in something else. It does us good, both for the brain, the mind and the body. Surveys show that the reading skills of young people are declining, and this worries the author. In 2016, the then Prime Minister Stefan Löfven and his government renamed the autumn holiday to läslov/reading holiday. At the same time, they set aside 5 million Swedish kroner to be used to increase reading activity. The reading holiday is for everyone of school age, from pre-school to secondary school. It is a week of events and activities that promote the desire to read. The author believes that one must look to the neighboring country. Bjørn Vatne is the leader of the Norwegian Writers’ Association. Photo: Haavard Jangaard Strand Less desire to read Vatne believes there are several reasons to work to increase the desire to read among children and young people. – We see that Norwegian children and young people have less and less desire to read and a poorer ability to read. He says that an international survey shows that 63 per cent of Norwegian 15-year-olds don’t read if they don’t have to. Furthermore, he says that another survey, which measures literacy, shows that Norwegian ten-year-olds are beginning to drop in literacy for the first time. – It is so critical that we have to take action, says Vatne. Do you think someone should christen the autumn holiday a reading holiday? Read a little every day Vatne says that the solution to reading more is to read a little every day. He believes you can do the same as when you train, and like to think of it as a kind of session. – Set aside half an hour or fifteen minutes. Switch off or put away the phone and set a stopwatch. Sit down and use that time. The author recommends everyone to take a trip to the library during the autumn holidays. People gathered for knitting classes at Moa library. Photo: Nils-Atle Sundnes / news Nice to use the autumn holidays to read Librarian at Moa library, Kari Nesdal, says that they experience a good influx of people during the autumn holidays. – There are many who travel away, but there are many who are at home, so we often have a lot of visitors during the autumn holidays. Librarian Kari Nesdal says that there is a particularly good turnout of people at the library if the weather is bad. Photo: Nils-Atle Sundnes / news Nesdal thinks it’s nice to be able to spend the autumn holidays reading. – I am not against changing the autumn holiday to a reading holiday. The librarian says that during the autumn holidays they organize various activities aimed at children. They have had both a board game day, an alphabet hunt and knitting. Nesdal believes that the library has a special responsibility for reading and the desire to read. They try to do their part to increase the desire to read among children and young people. – We try to buy in books that are in demand, and make ourselves available when the teachers ask about books to be used at school. We try to have activities that relate to reading. In the summer there is sommarles, which is very popular. Åshild Solevåg and her daughter Anna Sofie are at the library during the autumn holidays. Photo: Nils-Atle Sundnes / news It is important that children read Åshild Solevåg visits the library with her children. She says that they are quite often at the library. – I think we all think it’s fun. The children are very fond of reading and looking at books. Solevåg thinks it is important that her children read. – I enjoyed reading when I was a child, and I think it is important that they also get to experience it. It is good for their development, for their imagination and they get to experience a lot in the books. Published 13.10.2024, at 07.37
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Author Bjørn Vatne thinks people must read more and use the library – news Møre og Romsdal – Local news, TV and radio
