Nottingham City Council’s Libraries Service will today receive ten books, courtesy of The Finnish Institute in London.
The presentation will be made at Central Library today at just after 11am.
The donation will be made by Head of Society and Culture Johanna Sumuvuori from the Embassy. The books will be received by Jane Brierley – Nottingham City Council’s Library Lead for Stock and Resources.
Nottingham is one of just ten cities chosen to receive the gift of books.
The book donation is part of a project called 10×10 Stories from Finland which celebrates literacy by bringing beloved Finnish books to the UK. Through this, The Finnish Institute in London aims to celebrate the centenary of Finland’s independence by highlighting the importance of literacy, literature and libraries.
The campaign has collected 100 books written by Finnish authors, translated into English, in cooperation with British publishing houses. The campaign represents the joy of reading, which can be experienced through Nordic noir, sci-fi, poems or children’s literature.
Johanna Sumuvuori, Head of Society and Culture at the Finnish Institute in London said: “We wanted to celebrate Finland’s centenary in the UK by bringing ten wonderful Finnish stories to British readers and library users. We believe these stories offer great literary travels across Finnish culture. Literacy is a fundamental human right and the foundation for lifelong learning.”
Finland is among the world’s top countries for literacy where it is seen as one of the key factors behind the welfare and academic success of society. A country of readers, Finns are one of the most active library users and book readers in the world.
The selection of the books includes a wide range of literature including both modern masterpieces and beloved classics, including the Finnish national epic Kalevala. There are books by some of Finland’s most celebrated contemporary authors Rosa Liksom, Ulla-Lena Lundberg, Timo Parvela, Lars Sund and Antti Tuomainen.
Cllr Dave Trimble, Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Culture said: “We are excited to meet the delegation from the Finnish Institute and to talk to them about the 10X10 project. We are very proud to have been chosen as one of only ten UK cities to take part in the project.
“As Unesco City of Literature, Nottingham actively supports libraries and the development of reading. We wholeheartedly support the Finnish ethos to make reading and learning accessible to our city and I’m sure these new books for the collection will be extremely well received and that people will take the opportunity to learn about other cultures in their reading.”
For more information on the project, please visit:
www.fininst.uk
www.suomifinland100.fi
#StoriesFromFinland
www.nottinghamcityofliterature.com