Young and old, family and friends! It's time for a read!
Reading together is an activity that children and adults are encouraged to take up during the Year of the Book Adventure. It's 25 years since the last national book campaign targeted the younger generation, so various related groups thought the time was right to speak up again for reading and literature.

Good literacy ­ poor reading
International comparisons put Finland at the top in literacy. All the same, national surveys of 14-15 year-olds' competence in their mother tongue produced some surprising results. Many were found to be poor readers, and their writing no more than satisfactory. Half of them said they read no books in their spare time, neither fiction nor non-fiction. Even in the school context literature is very little read; barely one book a year at worst.

Teachers and library staff are seeing both regional and gender differences in pupils' skills and reading habits. In northern Finland a fall in borrowing figures has been noted, as has the fact that 'northern lads' don't read.

Of course, many factors influence trends in lending statistics and the popularity of reading as a hobby. At the start of the 90s libraries were hit by the economic recession; there were cuts in acquisition grants, in branch libraries and in mobile library stops. The repercussions of that are still with us. Finland has no school library network as such. In many places collaboration between school and public library works well, but it is clear that public libraries with their present resources cannot fulfil the schools' needs for books and other information sources.

In the face of these revelations, libraries in northern Finland did not stand and gape. The Provincial State Office of Oulu, for example, focused the spotlight on reading as a hobby for children. Oulu City Library carried out an extensive reading campaign with local schools. Rural Rovaniemi did the same, and explored reading aloud together for parents and children. But even more activities were called for. Instigated by children's authors, the forthcoming Book Adventure Year will lend brilliant support both to libraries in what they are already doing to promote literacy within their children's departments, and to schools and libraries in their joint efforts to develop the supply of books.

Adventures under one umbrella
The national Year of Book Adventures can be seen as an umbrella project, aiming to make literature for children and the young more widely known, to awaken a hunger for reading and to spotlight the importance of reading skills for mastering life.

More than 50 civic or book-related organisations are involved in the planning and the activities, and the mass media too. Child welfare clinics, day-care centres, schools, libraries and book shops are partners in information and cooperation. The project has received financial support from the Ministry of Education and Finnish publishers, and Finland's President, Ms Tarja Halonen, has agreed to be patron of the Book Adventure.

Adventure of the week on TV
Adventures will also feature on television and radio. At the start of the year the Finnish Broadcasting Company will launch a series to run for all 52 weeks of the year. Every week a book will be presented, both classics and new ones, in programmes on radio and television. Programmes will be aimed at children, youngsters and parents.

Kick-off and other festivities
The opening of the Adventure will be celebrated in Helsinki, and in six other locations throughout the land ­ east, west, centre, north and south. In cooperation with the partners in this project various selected book lists will be compiled, as well as a database of experts and visiting authors. Two extensive exhibitions are being prepared featuring book illustrations, of which at least one will tour the country.

The theme will be picked up by traditional literary events during the year. Authors will get on the road ­ even meet their readers in book mobiles, and the Adventure will have its own website.

So, as we embark on our Adventure, let us wish: may authors meet their readers; may books come alive in new media, on the web and in online chats; may books find new readers through TV, day care and school. The Book Adventure wants to offer a route to experiences that will last a lifetime ­ for children, youngsters and the young at heart.

 
Translated by Britt & Philip Gaut
 

Riitta Myllylä
Project leader
Kirjaseikkailu 2001 - Book Adventure 2001 / Lukukeskus
PL 8 (Linnunlauluntie 10, Villa Kivi)
00531 Helsinki
tel. 050- 339 6068, 09 - 760 525
fax 09 - 716 776
riitta.myllyla@lukukeskus.fi
 

Tel. + 358 3 3141 8400
Fax + 358 3 3141 8440
E-mail sni@sci.fi
 
 

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