Nordic Library Week 2012: ‘Diversity in the Nordic countries’

12.11.2012 until 18.11.2012
Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and the Nordic countries
Eha Vain (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.)

Library Week 2012At this, perhaps the gloomiest time of year, the League of Norden Associations and libraries throughout the Nordic countries organise Nordic Library Week, and have been doing so every year since 1997. It is seven days of exhibitions, readings, book presentations and debates in libraries, schools and community centres in the Nordic countries and Baltic States.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of Nordic Library Week in the Baltic States. The events are going under the title of 'Diversity in the Nordic countries'.
The books that the organisers of Nordic Library Week have chosen for this year are some which should contribute to reducing rifts in society and boosting empathy and mutual understanding – helping readers place themselves in other people's shoes, feeling what they feel and experiencing what they experience.

These are the authors and books for 2012:

  • Thorbjørn Egner's Klatremus og de andre dyrene i Hakkebakkeskogen ('Climbing Mouse and the Other Animals in the Hunchback Wood') is a timeless classic underscoring that everyone is important in their own way, that you have to behave nicely and that you should help people who find themselves in unexpected situations. Even those we consider silly can be very nice people at heart. Egner's books do not feature stereotypical 'bad guys' – even the thugs and bandits are treated with a degree of sympathy. Egner is Norway's most famous children's author. He was a writer, graphic designer, illustrator, composer and stage designer. 12 December will mark the 100th anniversary of his birth.
  • Miika Nousiainen's Vadelmavenepakolainen ('Raspberry Boat Refugee') bursts with humour. It looks at the problems people face when they move to another country and when you have to divide your identity between two nationalities. The novel is a well-meaning dig at both Finns and Swedes. Born in 1973, Nousiainen lives in Helsinki, where he works as a journalist and writer. The book is currently being translated into Estonian.
  • Jag är Zlatan Ibrahimović: min historia ('I am Zlatan Ibrahimović: My Story') is the autobiography of Sweden's most famous footballer. It was penned by the player himself, working with David Lagercrantz. The story is particularly well suited to younger readers, and to date has been read in Sweden alone by half a million people. It is now storming the book charts in other European countries. Ibrahimović tells an unembellished tale of a boy who grows up in a Bosnian household in the infamous crime-ridden Malmö suburb of Rosengård and, despite the odds, becomes a superstar of international football.

Libraries, schools and community centres in Estonia are welcome to take part in Nordic Library Week. Those wishing to do so should contact Eha Vain on +372 627 3104 or e-mail This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For futher information in Scandinavian and registration click here.

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