Kankaanpää City Library has launched a year-long development project “The Library is Going to Second Grade – Developing Second Grade Literacy Work in Kankaanpää”. The project aims to strengthen the reading skills of second grade students, inspire young people to read, and build a permanent cooperation model between the library and local educational institutions.

A Master of Philosophy has started as the part-time project coordinator for the project. Jenna Lehmijoki, which is responsible for the practical implementation of the project and the development of cooperation with educational institutions.

The project involves close collaboration with Kankaanpää Upper Secondary School, Honkajoki Upper Secondary School and the Sataedu Kankaanpää branch. The aim is to jointly develop operating methods and library services that support students' versatile reading skills and make the library a more familiar part of young people's everyday lives.

The Kankaanpää Library has had a working cooperation agreement with primary schools for several years. Now the aim is to expand the long-term literacy work to secondary schools as well.

– Secondary school students are at a stage in their lives where the demands of studying are increasing and at the same time their own reading may be decreasing. Together with educational institutions, we want to find new ways to support students and make the library a place where you can find joy in reading, help with studying and space to calm down, says project coordinator Jenna Lehmijoki.

The project will develop low-threshold library services for students, increase the visibility of the library in educational institutions, and create new practical operating models to promote reading. At the same time, it will produce tools for both library staff and teachers to support literacy work.

The work is based on the goals of the National Literacy Strategy 2030 and the Kankaanpää City Wellbeing Plan, which defines the library's key task as strengthening the structures of literacy work and encouraging reading.

Although there has been a positive development in young people's reading habits in recent years, supporting literacy is still important. According to the 2023 School Health Survey by the Finnish Institute for Health and Welfare, 38 percent of upper secondary school students in Kankaanpää and 20 percent of vocational education students read books for pleasure at least once a month. Both results were slightly above the national average and better than the corresponding figures in 2019.

– Literacy is one of the most important skills for the future. The library's mission is to offer everyone the opportunity to develop it throughout their lives. We want to build a collaboration that will not remain an isolated project, but will create permanent ways of working between the library and educational institutions in the future, says the library's executive director. Marjut Tiisala.

The project is funded by the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southwest Finland, which awarded a project grant of 26,000 euros to the Kankaanpää Library in the spring. The regional state administrative agencies merged into the new Licensing and Supervision Agency at the beginning of 2026, which is currently responsible for administering the grant.

Further information: City of Kankaanpää, project coordinator Jenna Lehmijoki, [email protected]

Caption: Project coordinator Jenna Lehmijoki presents book tips for secondary school students.