Literary art activities as promoters of social inclusion

The aim of this poster is to stimulate discussion on how literary art activities can promote social inclusion. In Finland, public libraries organise versatile literary art activities that encourage both written and verbal expression, e.g. literary art clubs, rap and comics workshops, and creative writing groups. Literary art activities provide opportunities for the improvement of literacy, self-expression, and social readiness. Moreover, they can promote community spirit. Libraries respond to current societal challenges by tailoring activities for immigrants, people requiring special assistance, and people at risk of social exclusion. For the promotion of social goals, it is important that libraries reach out to people who are not active library users. The poster presents an ongoing doctoral research on literary art activities in Finnish, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, and Icelandic public libraries. The hypothesis of the research is that creative literary art activities in public libraries prevent social exclusion and promote social inclusion.