Response to interpellation 2022/23:95 on staffed school libraries
Translated from Swedish by AI; the translation may contain errors. The Swedish text is the original.
Summary AI, written in advance
The debate concerns staffed school libraries and their importance for literacy and democracy 1 2. L considers literacy to be crucial and that the government is investing in teaching materials and Läslyftet to strengthen language and reading comprehension 1 2. L emphasizes that physical teaching materials favor deep reading and that school libraries play an important role for individuals, youth, and for supporting teachers' work 2 3. MP considers staffed school libraries to be an important structural reform to reverse the declining literacy 4. MP argues that librarians are crucial for guiding students toward reading 5. MP wants to see an investigation and sharp legislation regarding staffing 4 5.
Written by AI in advance and may contain errors. The numbers lead to the speech a statement builds on; check against the text below.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! Member of Parliament Amanda Lind has asked me if I am prepared to proceed with the proposal for legislation on staffed school libraries, according to the School Library Inquiry. Amanda Lind has also asked me how I, in addition to this, intend to continue to strengthen the work for promoting reading and literature in schools.
Good reading skills are crucial for students to pass their studies in all subjects in school. Reading comprehension is also important for students to have the opportunity to participate in the democratic conversation in society.
In the budget bill for 2023, the government therefore proposed measures to strengthen children's and students' language, reading, and writing development, including through an expansion, reinforcement, and extension of Läslyftet. The government also submitted proposals for measures to increase access to high-quality teaching materials, which benefits the quality of teaching. During 2023, 685 million kronor will therefore be invested, and thereafter 555 million kronor annually from 2024. These are also measures that can contribute to increasing students' reading comprehension. The Riksdag decided in accordance with the government's proposal.
School libraries play an important role in awakening the desire to read and promoting students' literacy, cultivation, and education. According to the Education Act, all students in primary school and equivalent school forms as well as upper secondary school and upper secondary school for students with special needs shall already today have access to school libraries. However, how the school libraries are designed differs greatly between schools, from a few books in a small room to a well-equipped library with many books, various media, and a trained librarian.
The then government appointed an inquiry on November 28, 2019, with a mandate, among other things, to investigate and propose measures to strengthen school libraries. The inquiry presented its mandate in the partial report School Libraries for Education and Training (SOU 2021:3) on January 19, 2021. The previous government did not decide on any proposition regarding school libraries, and the inquiry's proposals therefore continue to be prepared within the Government Offices.
Amanda Lind (MP)
Madam Speaker! I thank the Minister for the answer.
It feels good that we can stand here in the chamber and discuss this important issue. I was positive when I heard the Minister's answer, partly because the Minister so clearly highlighted the important function school libraries have for reading and stated that the situation looks different around the country, which is one of the problems that is being addressed with the School Library Inquiry, naturally also because the proposal is still being prepared. I interpret it as that the proposal is not written off and put in a filing cabinet. It is a pleasing message.
Just as I wrote in my interpellation, we have for a longer period been able to follow how young people's reading has decreased and how children's reading ability has become increasingly worse. It is deeply worrying. We know that reading has such an enormous significance for mastering other instruction in school, for keeping up and being an active part of the social debate, and thus for being an active part of our democracy. Naturally, it is also about the doors and worlds that literature and reading open, that is to say understanding others' perspectives and setting out on journeys where few other media succeed in taking children.
During the years in government, Miljöpartiet pushed hard to strengthen children's reading. We introduced a read-write-count guarantee to ensure that no children go through primary school without the school having taken measures.
I am pleased that we, together with among others the Liberals, had a joint commitment during the last parliamentary term and in the January agreement to implement the Reading Delegation's proposals. It was something we pushed forward together. We established a reading council under the Cultural Council. We have strengthened public libraries across the country, and we have implemented a large package of reading-promotion initiatives, not least early reading initiatives for small children and their parents as well as books for preschools. But more needs to be done to reverse the trend.
According to librarians and teachers, specifically staffed school libraries are such a structural reform that would be important to implement in order to achieve a permanent change.
The Liberals are a party that in many respects share the Green Party's view on the importance of reading, libraries, and education for the individual and for society. The Liberals themselves highlight on their website that school libraries should be quiet, equipped, and staffed. And I also note that in the various polls ahead of the election, the Liberals take a positive stance toward the School Library Inquiry's proposals and think they should be implemented. The Moderates are also positive toward the School Library Inquiry's proposals.
As late as before Christmas during a budget debate, I also noted that the Liberal Party's chairman in the Education Committee, Fredrik Malm, thinks that one should definitely have the ambition that as much as possible in the investigation should be implemented, but one must of course look at the referral responses and see when one can return with proposals for legislation.
The school library investigation contains several parts to strengthen the function of school libraries, but the most important part in the legislation concerns strictly demanding staffed school libraries. We know that it is precisely the school librarian who has the opportunity to guide the children toward reading, so that it does not become a question of the shelves in a corridor, as the minister referred to.
Can the Minister promise that a government bill on staffed school libraries will be presented during this parliamentary term? Can the Minister promise that it will also contain proposals for sharp legislation regarding staffing?
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! Let me first state how important reading and good literacy are. We have seen over a series of years that literacy seems to have deteriorated. It takes longer and longer for children to learn to read, and this has major consequences for their future school results and for their future ability to read fiction, to take part in the public debate, and to seriously take their full democratic responsibility when they get a little older.
That is also why we are now making this major investment in textbooks in Swedish schools. We have seen that there are very large differences in how much money the municipalities and other principals invest in good teaching materials. Those differences are far too large, and it is clear that it is important to have textbooks. There are many reasons. Deep reading is improved when one reads in a book instead of on a screen. We also know that the probability of reading fiction as one gets older increases if one has had real textbooks. It is, therefore, a large and important investment.
When it comes to school libraries, there is already legislation in the area today. One shall have school libraries, and it is the principals who are responsible for ensuring that they exist and that the existing school law is followed. But as I said in my written response and as I also answered here, this question is being prepared right now in the Government Offices. The previous government did not handle the question, but it lies there.
I also want to say that I in no way want to blame the previous government, as it also had other issues on its table – both the pandemic and the Ukraine crisis and so on. But the matter is being prepared in the Government Offices now.
Amanda Lind (MP)
Madam Speaker! I thank Lotta Edholm for the answer, even though it was not an answer to my question as to whether the Minister can promise to actually submit a proposition.
I understand that it can be difficult for the Minister to actually promise. There are several parties that need to reach an agreement on the issue. But both the Liberals and the Moderates included in their election manifestos or their pledges before the election that they want to move forward with sharp legislation.
The Chairman of the Education Committee, Fredrik Malm, refers to the fact that the referral responses must be reviewed and that a return shall be made thereafter. In that case, I would like to ask the Minister for Education how they view the referral responses that have been submitted and whether they have prompted any changed view from the Government's and the Liberals' side regarding the investigation that exists.
A discussion has arisen regarding legislation on staffed school libraries. One point of view that has come from some referral bodies is that the very small units might not have the possibility to live up to the legislation. But here, the investigation actually proposes an exemption clause so that in cases where units are very small or are located very close to a public library, it could be clarified that it is possible to sign agreements with and utilize competence from the public library. I therefore find it a bit difficult to believe that the criticism from the referral bodies will put a stop to such legislation. On the contrary, it is the case that this type of formal agreement between school libraries and public libraries is something that is being requested. Legislation that can support such a development is also being requested.
We in Miljöpartiet consider that ensuring equal access to school libraries across the country is one of the most important tasks of both cultural policy and education policy. I hope that the Minister for Education really has this issue high on their agenda.
It states in the Tidö Agreement that school libraries are an important issue for an equal school, but it says nothing about them being staffed. I would like to hear from the Minister for Education how prioritized it is to produce legislation where it is staffed school libraries that are required. There are many more things in the investigation that are absolutely important, but here we have a key issue so that there will be people of flesh and blood who guide the students into the world of literature and reading so that we do not get this situation with shelves in a corridor and that it is classified as a school library. That is my first question.
I also want to briefly refer to something that the Minister for Education said, which I agree with. It concerns the ability for deep reading – to deeply internalize a text and deeply achieve the reading comprehension that is required. There we know that the reading which now occurs very much digitally can hinder that type of deep reading comprehension.
I have just come from a lunch seminar here in the Riksdag with very interesting research from the University of Stavanger which confirms what we already know: The reading that is now occurring so much in our digital forums creates a challenge when it comes to reading comprehension, while physical books that one can hold in one's hands create a special type of learning and a special type of understanding for the text one reads. That is where the school libraries come in as an important place in a school where you can get access to the physical books.
I do not want to say in any way that this is unproblematic. It is a development that has been ongoing for a long time and which we must now reverse with a collective effort. I am positive that Miljöpartiet and Liberalerna have been able to find common ground on reading promotion issues previously. I hope that we can do so also during this mandate period and proceed with the investigation that we jointly commissioned.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I hope so too. As Amanda Lind may have noted, I have expressed some criticism regarding the digitalization we have seen of teaching materials and that sometimes there are not even any teaching materials in the school's instruction.
I believe that real textbooks are good for the students. It benefits reading, just as Amanda Lind says. It makes it easier for students to get an idea of what material they are to learn. It makes it easier for teachers to be teachers and not try to be learning material producers. It makes it easier for parents to see what the homework actually is. Above all, physical learning materials make it easier to see that one is actually following the curricula that exist for the subjects. There are, therefore, great advantages with physical learning materials.
I believe one reason why it has turned out as it has with a digitalization that has at times been ill-considered is that when it swept across the world and across the country, one did not know all that we know today. I would be interested to hear what additional insights Amanda Lind gained in this at that seminar. We know, for example, that one learns better if one writes by hand when making notes than if one writes on a computer or tablet. We know, as mentioned, that deep reading is improved when one reads in physical learning materials. We also know that children move far too little and that one reason for that is that they devote far too much to various digital platforms – tablets and so on.
With this said, I would like to conclude by saying that we are working on this issue in the Government Offices. I believe that school libraries fulfill an enormously important role as it is today, but we hope that we will eventually come to a legislative proposal regarding school libraries. They fulfill a very important function for reading and for students to receive the same and equal conditions when they eventually get a little older and hopefully can also take part in the various services of public libraries.
Amanda Lind (MP)
Madam Speaker! Thank you, Minister, for the answer! It is pleasing to hear the commitment that exists for school libraries from the Minister. I look forward to the government presenting a proposition. I note, however, that the Minister is still not clear about whether it is actually staffed school libraries that they intend to write a proposition about.
I just want to repeat here that only 46 percent of the country's primary and secondary school students today have access to a staffed school library. We know that school librarians have an absolutely extraordinarily important role to play when it comes to introducing students to books and reading, finding the right book for the right student, and functioning as a support to teachers in teaching. They also have the important function of working with media and information literacy, a task that has absolutely not become less relevant in light of the digitalization that we have talked about here.
I note that the Liberals are one of the parties that want to see us proceed with this investigation and with sharp legislation regarding staffed school libraries. One has support from the Moderates for that line, so I can only hope that the Minister for Education has success in the internal negotiations in the Government Offices. I also note that there is broad support in the Riksdag to proceed with the investigation's proposals.
Madam Speaker! Miljöpartiet has been proactive regarding the work of promoting reading and will continue to be. I think it is positive that the government is moving forward with strengthening reading at an early age. So we lay a foundation. But we also know that reading is something you must continue to work on. You must continue to read fiction as a teenager and as an adult and practice basic reading comprehension throughout your life.
That is why staffed school libraries play an important role in both our education system and our society. We need more books and more reading, and we need knowledgeable, educated staff who can assist in that development. I hope that the Minister for Education means it seriously when she says that she will return with a government bill.
Statsrådet Lotta Edholm (L)
Madam Speaker! I am pleased with this discussion. School libraries have an enormously important role in schools and for individuals, for the youth, as well as for supporting teachers in their important work to increase reading but also to support other teaching.
I think it has been an interesting discussion that I would like to thank you for.
Source: The Swedish Parliament. The speeches come from the open data of the Riksdag, translated into English by AI, which may contain errors.