Contact
Contact information
Reading skills improve with practice – Riihimäki schools read together for ten minutes every day
The city of Riihimäki started a new practice called "Permission to Read" in March 2025 to support the improvement of literacy. Primary and upper secondary school students read a book for about ten minutes every school day around ten o'clock.
The father of the idea, the high school principal Kari Jukarainen, heard at a principals' meeting that a similar project had been successfully carried out in Tampere and Turku.
"Now every student reads a physical book every day with concentration. Even the teacher doesn't respond to Wilma messages, but digs out the book and gives a model of an adult reading," Jukarainen says.
The high school's reading team is constantly thinking about ways to increase reading. There are reading tips on the school's bulletin boards, teachers recommend books in their own subject areas and fiction. There is also a course where you can earn credits by reading non-fiction books selected by teachers.
“We always try to promote the library’s author visits and events, because we hope students will go there. We put event information on our information screens.”
High school students can read Helsingin Sanomat, Aamulehti and Satakunnan Kansa with a school license.
"We have received old magazines from the library for the classes. For some, magazines are easier than books."
Head of Education Outi Ervasti also wants to inspire parents to read together with their children. It would be great if we could read together at home for a while every day. Too much digitalization is not good for the brain, concentration or reading skills.
“Listening to an audiobook is good, of course, but all adults need to remember that listening skills are different from reading skills. Reading skills only improve through reading and practice.”
Promoting multi-literacy is important. It is based on traditional reading and writing skills, and only then does media literacy develop, meaning that a young person is able to read different media and perceive visual information.
From reading passes to reading festivals and reading mummies
Principal Eija Siilimäki from Riihimäki Eteläinen School says that the Lukeva Koulu team is planning inspiring activities for the entire school. Reading festivals were organized in the fall. Reading minutes were collected in a coloring book, which measured not pages but the reading time spent. Adults also had their own books. A winner was drawn from them, who received a bag of alphabet candy. You could easily implement a reading book at home too!
“A colorful ribbon chain was assembled from the reading passes, which was ceremoniously raised to the ceiling of the hall. Those who were in a hurry could stay and listen to the teacher read a book. Last year, Roope Lipasti visited to tell the students about the profession of a writer and his books. There is always an author of the month exhibition in the lobby. Now Mervi Jalo, who writes about the world of horses, is on display.”
The school is staffed by three reading grandmothers trained by the Mannerheim League for Child Welfare. Ritva Antila holds reading sessions once a week, mainly for third and fourth graders.
“We read for about 20 minutes, which means I have time to be with two children. Usually the child reads and I listen. If he or she is slow to read, we might take turns reading. If I notice that a word is unfamiliar, we stop and think about it. We also discuss the content of the book.”
The idea is to support children's reading fluency. The teacher can also bring a child who is not at all excited about books to the session.
“Then I might tell you that I always read before going to bed in the evenings. You could do the same! I am a grandmother of seven children and have always loved reading.”
Children enjoy coming to the sessions, where they receive a sticker for their passport and, on the last day, a reading diploma as a memento.
Experiences of success in light novels
Kati Alapelto, a mother tongue and literature teacher at Kara School, tries in many ways to entice middle school students to pick up a book.
“Selkoromans have inspired many non-readers to read because they get a sense of accomplishment from reading the entire book. I look for reading material on topics that interest students. A student might be excited to read, for example, a biography of a famous football player.”
Alapelto says that sometimes during reading class, students listen to an audiobook while following the text from the printed book. The audiobook is a good way to get started, but most of the time, students read silently to themselves. The students continue reading as a reading assignment.
Eighth grader Riina Ukkonen thinks that having a personal interest, such as fantasy, helps to get excited. The book shouldn't be too thick for someone who isn't used to it.
“One way to get excited is to read the same book with a friend. It's nice to talk about the events in it during break. The presentations given by the book reviewer are always really good. The last time the topic was non-fiction, biographies and genres. I found a lot of interesting things to read.”
Book recommendations are available to everyone
The library's book advisor, Mari Nyström, opens the library's materials to middle school and high school students.
“Resluctant readers only see a few hundred books on the shelf, and they need guidance on finding a book they like. I can talk very vividly about the content of the books, but I don’t reveal their ending. During the lesson, I managed to talk about about ten books. This week, my colleague and I are giving tips to three groups of high school students.”
Nyström also does a lot of shelf-scraping, meaning a parent comes to the library with their child to ask for interesting reading material.
Onni Ihalainen, a freshman in high school, went to a tip-off with her class, and inspired by it, she picked up Anton Chekhov's play The Seagull.
“In the mother tongue course, we had to choose a play or a collection of poems. Short daily reading sessions have received good feedback even from young people who don’t read much. It creates a relaxing break for the brain.”
Ihalainen usually reads sci-fi, fantasy, and non-fiction.
"Small things could influence young people's desire to read. At school, you have to read what is prescribed. If you don't like it, some may get the feeling that all books are uninteresting. Through book recommendations, everyone can find suitable reading."
The pictures are attractive to read.
Fifth-grader Elli Rasehorn enjoys reading, but her mother Mira Rasehorn says that sometimes her desire to read has had to be supported.
“At first, he only read comics. I tried to entice him into longer stories. The Pet Friends and Pet Agents books have really great pictures to support the story, and with them he rediscovered the magic of books.”
Elli adds that the visual aspect is important. If you're not good at reading, great pictures support understanding the story.
“Comics are good for inspiring reading. Boys don’t read much, but many like Lätkä-Lauri, which has a good plot and lots of pictures. I got one of my friends to read the Percy Jackson book series. Now we read them quite a lot together.”
For some, reading a book is too slow. For them, Elli recommends audiobooks.
"There's a lot of mandatory reading in schools. There should be an alternative to a thick 300-page book. Magazine articles could be good. I've read the story about the collapse of the WTC tower many times."
Mira Rasehorn thanks her grandparents for a great Christmas present: the grandchildren have already received the children's Hesar for three Christmases. The siblings fight over who gets to read it first. About five years ago, her aunt also gave them an audiobook service.”
“Sometimes a little thing can spark a love of reading. The afternoon club director once read aloud Ronja the Robber's Daughter and its magical world would draw Elli in. Back then, we would go to the library to ask for tips on similar books. Now she knows how to go there herself to ask for tips.”
Statistics show how Finns read
85 percent of Finns read or listen to books in some format in their free time. On average, a Finn reads over 16 books a year, ten of which are printed. Women read almost twice as many printed books as men. Age has a significant impact on the number of books read.
More than half of respondents who read printed books say they read daily or several times a week. On average, 3,04 hours were spent per week reading printed books, 5,55 hours reading audiobooks, and 3,20 hours reading e-books. The figures were calculated for respondents who read books in all formats.
About a quarter of Finns consume audiobooks, but they consume a lot of these books. Attitudes towards audiobooks divide Finns.
An increasing number of Finns do not buy printed books at all. A third of respondents said they have not bought a single book in the past year.
In 2024, the total number of loans at Riihimäki Library was 430. Loan volumes have increased. Last year, there were 875 borrowers and 9 library visits.
Source: Finnish Booksellers Association 2025 and Finnish Public Library Statistics 2024.
Text: Reija Ypyä
Publication: 2025
Keywords: Basic education , Culture and competence ,
All articles: Articles for Riihimäki residents