Over half a million euros paid for authors – the Finnish Reading Center is growing and making a difference

The expansion of the Finnish Reading Center’s activities enabled increasingly effective action in promoting reading for all ages, and especially for children and young people. The Finnish Reading Center supported the livelihoods of authors by developing the Author Visits Service, and for the fifth year running, provided an equal starting point for families to read through a book gifting programme.

The Finnish Reading Center’s project activities are based on research, a broad target group, accessibility and concrete approaches. Many of Finnish Reading Center’s projects have been running for many years, which has enabled long-term development and putting their results into practice. The aim is to create large-scale, lasting change with a broad impact, enabling a reading lifestyle for everyone.

Key Figures from 2024

A total of 1 519 author visits were organised and 76 000 readers met an author.

The authors were paid €500 567 in fees for their visits.

A Book Bag to Every Baby Born in Finland has reached 93 % of families with babies since 2019.

The Read Aloud website, supporting professionals in their work on reading education, saw a 34 % increase in visitors.

Reading Week reached up to 3 million people on social media.

The Finnish Reading Center had a total of 7 presentations and keynote speeches at international events.

The youth literary media Lukufiilis – Läsglans had 90 700 readers, and 85 young people published their work in the magazine.

Online magazine of literary criticism Kiiltomato.net – Lysmasken had 158 900 readers.

An Author Visit Is an Experience for the Audience and the Performer

The Finnish Reading Center’s Author Visit Service arranges and coordinates author appearances in schools, libraries and cultural events nationwide. Each year, Finnish Reading Center arranges around 1500-1600 visits by literary professionals. The service involves around 1000 literary professionals.

The Finnish Reading Center develops the Author Visit Service to make meeting an author as valuable an experience as possible for the author, the commissioner and the audience. In 2024, a total of 1 519 author visits were commissioned through the Finnish Reading Center. More than 76 000 readers met an author on these visits and the authors were paid more than half a million euros for the visits. Around 60 % of the visits are for children and young people.

The customer satisfaction rating for the Author Visit Service is 4.9 / 5.

Finnish Literacy Work on Export

International networks are important for the Finnish Reading Center for knowledge exchange, learning and global understanding. Similarly, Finnish literacy work and the promotion of reading have always been of interest to an international audience.

In 2024, the Finnish Reading Center’s work was presented in even bigger arenas than before. The Reading Centre had up to 7 expert presentations and keynote speeches at international seminars and events during the year.

The Finnish Reading Centre’s work was also recognised internationally with an award: in June, the Words Matter rap workshops were awarded the 2024 FELA Award for Innovative Literacy Promotion in Europe.

The Finnish Reading Center’s Publications

The Finnish Reading Center publishes two literary magazines, Kiiltomato and Lukufiilis. The literary magazines are growing their readership every year, proving that there is a growing audience for quality literary content online.

Kiiltomato.net – Lysmasken is a bilingual online literary criticism magazine with 158 900 readers in 2024. Lysmasken’s articles and reviews are actively read not only in Finland but also in Sweden.

Lukufiilis – Läsglans is a bilingual online literary media for teenagers. In 2024, 85 young people wrote a total of 111 articles for the magazine. Lukufiilis had 90 700 readers and the magazine’s BookTok content was viewed 170 000 times.

In 2024 The Finnish Reading Center has been financially supported by the Finnish Ministry of Culture and Education, Swedish Cultural Foundation in Finland, Foundation Brita Maria Renlunds minne, Finlands svenska författareförening, Finnish Cultural Foundation, Otto A. Malm Foundation, Finnish Science Centre Foundation, Jenny and Antti Wihuri Foundation and Kopiosto.

View the Finnish Reading Center’s key figures from 2024 (pdf).