New non-profit organization to encourage children to read books

Fifteen minutes of paired reading a day is on the agenda as AI takes over and literacy rates among children decline. “It is a central issue for democracy,” according to the organization’s co-founder.

Läskvarten (“The Reading Quarter”) is a newly established non-profit organization dedicated to getting children to read books in school. The focus is on strengthening children’s reading skills and foster a love for reading through the program Reading Quarter in School , specifically developed for middle-school students.

“A matter of democracy”

Reading is a prerequisite for a child’s educational journey and critical thinking, says Malin Cumzelius, co-founder of Läskvarten: – In a world where AI generates an increasing amount of text, it is crucial that children can read, understand, and scrutinize information – it is a central issue for democracy. At the same time, over 24 percent of Swedish children currently leave primary school without basic reading comprehension, and fewer children are reading books. We want to help change that, she says in a press release.

6,500 books to eleven schools

The program consists of 15 minutes of daily “paired reading” on the curriculum, where students read aloud to each other. Participating schools also receive access to educational materials and a large collection of fiction. Since its launch in autumn 2025, Läskvarten has worked with over 1,300 students in more than 50 classes across eleven schools in Greater Stockholm. The organization reports that over 6,500 books have been donated to the schools so far.