Stöd läsutvecklingen! En studie av barns reflexioner kring sin läsning och bibliotekariers uppfattningar av barns läsning och läsutveckling
This thesis is structured as a combined empirical and literary study. The aim is to investigate how children at the age of 11-12 years reflect on their readings of fiction and how these reflections relate to the librarians' perspective of a child's reading ability and reading development. Qualitative interviews with children and librarians constitute the empirical part. Research and theories are compared to the empirical part then placed into a more extensive context. How do children at the age of 11-12 years old reflect upon their reading of fiction and how do librarians relate themselves to this age? An analysis using interviews, research and theories is used to answer these questions. The main result is that the reading levels among children of the same age vary. The limits fluctuate because children read in different ways and for different purposes. Generalized models that divide reading development into stages do not help librarians. Their starting point is the individual child. They recommend books and adapt to the needs or desires of the child. There are both similarities and differences between the views of children and librarians about the children's reading. Reading should be treated as enrichment, to give knowledge. In addition, when children and librarians meet, they should learn from each other. That kind of attentiveness leads to the flexibility and to the adaptation of the child's level of psychological and reading development.