Children’s Books Centre

The objectives of the Children’s Books Centre are the following:

  • To conduct research and education on children’s literature and reading in Iceland.
  • To encourage and provide facilities for research in children’s literature.
  • To disseminate knowledge and information about children’s literature in Iceland, and promote their visibility in the community.
  • To promote a reading culture among children and adolescents in Iceland.
  • To promote and consolidate domestic and foreign relations and participate in international knowledge creation in the field.
  • To hold seminars and promote the publication of scholarly literature in the field.

Brynhildur Þórarinsdóttir author and Associate Professor at the University of Akureyri has led the activities of the Centre.

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Founding of the Children’s Books Centre

The Children’s Books Centre - Research Centre on Children’s Literature and Children’s Reading at the University of Akureyri was founded on 4 February 2012. The founding members, in addition to the University of Akureyri, are the following:

Why establish the Children’s Books Centre?

Countless studies have shown declining interest in book reading among Icelandic children and adolescents over the last decades. These studies include the following:

  • Long-term research by Þorbjörn Broddason from 1968 (still ongoing)
  • European Espadaña investigation
  • The multinational PISA study
  • Youth in Iceland

Children’s interest in reading has decreased both abroad and domestically but Icelandic children are below average and perform worse in terms of reading comprehension than children in the countries we usually compare ourselves with. The Centre’s founders therefore consider it important to conduct research in this field.