Literature, reading and language

Central government initiatives in this field include:

• central government publishing grants for the publication and dissemination of literature and cultural magazines;
• operational and development support to county libraries;
• support to municipalities for the purchase of literature for public and school libraries;
• support to municipalities, schools, libraries, book shops, non-profit organisations and others to promote reading;
• an international literature award to commemorate Astrid Lindgren;
• support to the translation of Swedish literature;
• support to literary events and international cooperation in the field of literature;
• central government public lending right remuneration.

Government agencies and foundations

The Swedish Arts Council distributes financial support to literature, cultural magazines, reading-promotion initiatives and libraries. One of the purposes of this is to promote the diversity, quality and more extensive publication of literature and cultural magazines, and to promote the dissemination and reading of these types of literature. Since the beginning of 2008, the Swedish Arts Council has also been responsible for supporting translations and spreading interest for Swedish literature abroad. The Swedish Arts Council administers the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award.

The Swedish Authors' Fund distributes central government public lending right remuneration given to the creators of literary works for the use of their work in Swedish public and school libraries. This remuneration is partly distributed directly to authors, translators, artists and photographers in the form of monetary grants to authors and translators based on library loans, and partly in the form of special grants and scholarships.

The Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore is a central agency in the field of language, tasked with undertaking language planning and spreading knowledge about languages, dialects, folklore, names and the language-borne cultural heritage in Sweden.

The Swedish Library for Talking Books and Braille and the Easy to Read Foundation provide people with disabilities and those with reading difficulties with the opportunity to enjoy literature, magazines and news.

Libraries

A Library Act was introduced in 1997 and was supplemented in 2004 (SFS 1996:1596). The Act states that all citizens are to have access to a public library, that every municipality is to have a public library and that the general public is to be able to loan literature free of charge for a specific period at public libraries. The Act also states that there should be county libraries in each county which are to assist the public libraries, that suitably distributed school libraries are to be available in compulsory and upper secondary schools and that there is to be access to higher education libraries at all higher education institutions. In addition, the Act states that libraries and those responsible for libraries in the public sector are to cooperate and that municipalities and county councils are to adopt plans for library services.
As a result of the Riksdag's approval of the Government Bill on cultural policy Time for Culture (Government Bill 2009/10:3), the Government intends to task the Royal Library with responsibility for the national overview, promoting cooperation and driving development within the library services, and in consultation with the county libraries, continually following up the work of libraries. Research and higher education libraries are, however, not included. At the same time, a review of the Library Act is underway.

The position of the Swedish language

The Swedish language is of primary importance for Sweden and the people working and living here. In December 2005, the Riksdag adopted the following four national language policy objectives, taking account of the Government Bill The Best Language - a concerted language policy for Sweden (Government Bill 2005/06:2).

The first objective states that the Swedish language is to be the main language in Sweden. The objectives also state that Swedish is to be a complete language, serving and uniting society, that public language is to be cultivated, simple and comprehensible and that everyone should have the right to language: to develop and learn Swedish, to develop and use their own mother tongue and national minority language and to have the opportunity to learn foreign languages.
At the same time, reforms were introduced to strengthen the Swedish language. Central government-financed language planning, which answers questions and provides advice on language issues to government agencies, schools and the general public, was reorganised on 1 July 2006, when it was combined into one agency, the Swedish Institute for Language and Folklore. This reform means that entirely new initiatives are being taken for minority languages.

The Language Act

The Language Act (2009:600) has applied since 1 July 2009 and has further strengthened the position of the Swedish language. The Act contains fundamental provisions and principles clarifying that Swedish is the main language in Sweden. The public sector has particular responsibility for Swedish being used and developed, and for protecting and promoting the national minority languages and Swedish sign language.