Literature

One of the main instruments of the literature policy is the purchasing schemes, where the state, represented by Arts Council Norway, purchases a certain number of copies of select titles every year, which are then distributed to Norwegian libraries. Additionally, the state supports various promotional activities connected to literature and reading, and grants for authors.

Purchasing schemes, incentives, as well as books purchased by libraries, benefit the book industry and is of great importance for the distribution of books to new readers. These measures are also important strategic tools in the cultural policy.

This literary system has evolved through collaboration between writers-, publishers- and booksellers' organisations, and has proven to produce strong and diverse literature.

The Book Law

On January 1, 2024, the Book Law came into force. It ensures the fixed price system and contributes to the literary policy goals. The fixed price system means that all new Norwegian books have a fixed price for a certain period. The fixed price is set by the publishers and will apply for 12 months from the first time the book's format is published. The fixed price also ensures bookstores in small places where it would otherwise not be profitable to sell books. The scheme is one of the most central tools for contributing to good and stable framework conditions for actors who create and sell Norwegian literature.

The Book Law applies to all stakeholders in the industry, incorporating large parts of the content of the previous book agreement between the Norwegian Booksellers Association and the Norwegian Publishers Association, in addition to introducing new obligations. The Book Law balances the interests of stakeholders in the book industry and provides predictable conditions for authors, publishers, and booksellers. Furthermore, the Book Law contributes to a diversity of actors by ensuring that publishers and booksellers of different sizes and affiliations have more equal competitive conditions.

The law takes into account the major changes in technology and reading habits that have characterised the literature industry in recent years. It aims to make it easier to access the latest audiobooks during the fixed price period, by requiring streaming services to also offer audiobooks for sale. The audiobook sales has increased significantly in recent years, but so far not all audiobooks have been available on the different streaming platforms. The selection has varied from platform to platform. The new law will make it easier to access all books, including those subject to fixed prices.

• The Book Law - Legislation on the Sale of Books - lovdata.no (in Norwegian only)
• The Book Law - What Happens Next? - regjeringen.no (in Norwegian only)

Strategy for reading enjoyment

Norwegian children and young people have lower reading enthusiasm and poorer reading skills than before. The government wants to reverse this trend and build a stronger culture of reading. In May 2024, the Minister of Culture and Equality and the Minister of Education presented the strategy Together for Reading – The Reading Enthusiasm Strategy 2024–2030. In the area of the Ministry of Culture and Equality, the strategy is followed up through concrete measures financed by both budget appropriations and the allocation of gaming funds for cultural purposes. The measures under the Ministry of Culture and Equality are:

Access to varied literature

The government will:

• invest in school libraries by strengthening the school library scheme of Arts Council Norway to increase access to and dissemination of literature in schools
• establish a new grant scheme to promote increased cooperation between kindergartens and public libraries so that kindergarten children have better access to books
• strengthen the purchasing schemes of Arts Council Norway to increase access to varied and current literature in libraries for children and young people
• strengthen the work of Arts Council Norway with literature in Nynorsk, Sami languages, and national minority languages
• strengthen the National Library's service Tibi – The Library for Adapted Literature to increase access to adapted literature
• strengthen the National Library's multilingual library to increase access to literature in languages other than Norwegian

Dissemination of varied literature

The government will continue:

• gaming funds for reading enthusiasm and literature dissemination in libraries to increase reading enthusiasm among children and young people
• the National Library's project support for the libraries' Summer Reading campaign until 2030 to contribute to children's and young people's reading enthusiasm and reading skills

The government will strengthen:

• actors who disseminate literature to children and young people, to reach even more
• the grant scheme of Art Council Norway for literature dissemination, to reach more children and young people
• literature dissemination through The Cultural Schoolbag