This thesis investigates reading for pleasure in Britain from a variety of perspectives, in the context of popular concerns surrounding levels of readership, particularly among young people, and consists of four substantive chapters. The first chapter reports how book sales and library circulation have changed, and what predicts readership in the Taking Part survey. I show that claims surrounding changes in reading in Britain may be overstated, although the number of issues from British libraries has fallen, and that while the predictors of readership are largely as expected, there are some important results surrounding social status, and ethnic differences in children. The second chapter investigates changes in young people’s reading behaviour, using the Longitudinal Study of Young People in England. I show that changes in young people’s reading cannot be explained through a displacement effects account, and that socioeconomic differences in readership do not increase as panel members get older. In the third chapter, I investigate whether the relationship between reading for pleasure and educational attainment can be explained through cultural capital, and extend this with occupational attainment, using the 1970 British Cohort Study. I show a relationship between reading for pleasure and occupational attainment net of education, and I show that this relationship seems to have a cultural dimension beyond a cognitive effect account. In the fourth chapter, I show that the relationship between leisure in adoles- cence and educational and occupational attainment is not driven purely by highbrow activities, as on a certain understanding of Bourdieu: in particular, I show a relationship between occupational attainment and middlebrow activities.

This paper presents how the students’ motivation for reading pleasure is caught in school. It is also about how the teachers choose which kind of reading materials they use in the education to give the students the best possible conditions for a lifelong reading pleasure. What motivates the students in the primary school to read, not just because they must, but also by their own free will? Through my work, I put previous research on reading interest, motivation and self-confidence against what pupils in grade 3 consider the education in reading give them. The pupils’ experiences about whether they can influence the content in their educational material also effects how well motivated they are to assimilate the ability in reading. My survey is based om questionnaires for pupils in grade 3 and active Swedish teachers in the same year, the reading motivation and the choice of materials were studied, but also how much access to other books they have. A great access to books favors reading enthusiasm, both at school and at home. But it takes more than books to make students motivated to enjoy reading. / Den här uppsatsen handlar om hur elevernas motivation till nöjesläsning väcks inom skolan. Den handlar även om hur lärarna väljer vilken typ av läsläror de använder sig av i undervisningen för att ge eleverna så bra förutsättningar som möjligt för en livslång läslust. Vad motiverar eleverna på lågstadiet till att läsa, inte enbart för att de måste utan även av egen fri vilja? Genom mitt arbete ställer jag tidigare forskning kring läsintresse, motivation och självförtroende mot vad elever i årskurs 3 anser om undervisningen i svenska. Elevernas upplevelser kring huruvida de kan påverka undervisningens innehåll spelar även den in på hur pass motiverade de är att tillgodogöra sig förmågan i läsning. Min undersökning utgår ifrån enkätundersökningar till elever i årskurs 3 samt verksamma svenska lärare i samma årskurs studerades läsmotivationen och valet av material, men även tillgång till andra böcker. En stor tillgång till böcker gynnar läslusten, både i skolan och i hemmen. Men det krävs mer än böcker för att göra elever motiverade till nöjesläsning.

Undersökningar har visat på ett minskat läsintresse bland barn och unga de senaste åren, samtidigt som samhället kräver en utvecklad läsförmåga. Syftet med denna litteraturstudie var att undersöka vad forskning säger om vilka faktorer som påverkar lågstadieelevers läslust och vilka effekterna är av de metoder som används för att väcka elevers läslust i klassrummet. Denna litteraturstudie består av de två forskningsfrågorna: ”Vad säger forskningen om vilka faktorer som påverkar läslusten i lågstadieklassrum?” och ”Vad säger forskningen om de metoder som används för att väcka lågstadieelevers läslust i klassrummet och om vilka effekter de har?”. För insamling av data gjordes sökningar i databaser, där sökord användes för att hitta forskning relevant för studiens syfte.  Artiklarna som presenteras i studien har analyserats utifrån en tematisk analys, där kodning av data resulterade i fyra teman. Resultatet visar att klassrumsmiljö och elevinflytande är faktorer som påverkar elevers läslust i klassrummet. Av resultatet framgår det även att interaktiv läsning och läsaktiviteter i klassrummet bidrar till ökad motivation bland eleverna. Samtidigt talar forskning för att lärare har ett stort ansvar i att se till elevers olika förutsättningar när de väljer aktiviteter i syfte att utveckla elevers läsning. Betydelsen av lärares inflytande, såsom att vara en förebild och att ta hänsyn till elevers olika förutsättningar, är också något som framkommer av resultaten i denna studie. / Surveys have shown a reduced interest in reading among children and young people in recent years, while society demands a developed reading ability. The purpose of this study was to investigate what research says about what influences the love of reading among primary school students and what the effects are on methods used to increase reading motivation in classrooms. This literature review consists of the two research questions: “What does research say about which factors influence the love of reading in primary classrooms?” and “What does research say about methods used in classrooms to arouse interest in reading among students and about what effects they have?” For data collection, searches were conducted in databases, in which keywords were used to find research relevant to the aim of this study. The articles presented in this study were analyzed through a thematic analysis, where coding of data resulted in four themes. The result shows that the design of the classroom and student influence are factors that affects the reading motivation in the classroom. It is also shown in the results that interactive reading and reading activities in the classroom increases reading motivation among students. The importance of teachers’ influence, such as being a role model and taking students’ different needs into account when choosing activities, is also something that emerges from the results of this study.

Recent reports have confirmed that Swedish adolescents read less every year. Because of these reports, Swedish governments have implemented regulations to provide directions and emphasize the importance of reading promotion. However, how much these regulations have affected the curriculum for upper secondary schools in general, and the English syllabus specifically, is unclear. Therefore, this study aimed firstly to analyze the responsibilities of English teachers at upper secondary school regarding reading promotion, and secondly to take a closer look at the practice of reading promotion in the English classroom. This was conducted in a combined-methods study. Firstly, a close reading and analysis of what signals governments and governmental agencies have been sending out regarding reading promotion were carried out, and of how visible these signals are in the curriculum/syllabus. Secondly, a survey was conducted asking EFL teachers in upper secondary school how they look upon their responsibilities in this regard and what they practice in class.  The results show that the curriculum of upper secondary school does not reflect the governments’ emphasis on reading promotion. Some guidelines are provided, but they are vague, and it is unclear if they are part of the English teacher’s responsibility. Despite the lack of emphasis on reading in the curriculum, the survey results show that the participating English teachers believe reading is important and work with reading promotion. However, the respondents stress that more resources for school libraries are needed to improve their work.

This thesis investigates young readers' reading practices in relation to social media, in an attempt to bridge the gap between students' own experiences and school librarians' reading promotion efforts. This has been done through an online questionnaire with school librarians concerning if, and how, they currently work with digital reading communities, combined with an interview study with seven high school students who identify themselves as readers and current, or former, users of BookTok.  The results from the survey show that school librarians mainly work with digital reading communities by displaying trending books and informing their book purchases. The results from the interview study show that young Swedish readers place high aesthetic value on the book as an object; they prefer to read in English, and they do not enjoy compulsory reading in school when they have no agency in what books to read.  The conclusions drawn are that the young readers have a strong sense of identity connected to their reading practices and that this "reading identity" is at least partly shaped by digital reading communities such as BookTok. Furthermore, there are potential areas for school librarians to develop their work with digital reading communities in order to meet their students' needs. Firstly, through involving the students in not only selecting and purchasing books, but also in norm critical discussions of themes that are present in trending literature. Secondly, through collaboration with teachers in their literature teachings. The implications of the study are particularly directed toward high school librarians, due to the demographic of the participants, but can be applied to other ages and other professionals who work with reading promotion.  This is a two-year master's thesis in Library and Information Science.

This study addresses the problem of reading among older adults and the relation of such reading to their sense of life satisfaction. The study also considers the relation between reading interests and activity of older adults and the availability to them of library materials and services.