Our resources
Iedereen Leest is the reference organisation for reading and nurturing lifelong readers. To this end, it collects, develops, and provides access to information from research and practice.
Iedereen Leest’s specialist library is home to an extensive collection of children’s and young adult books as well as a collection of professional literature. The library offers a comprehensive overview of all recent publications by Flemish authors, illustrators, and translators. It also has a selection of recent Dutch and translated children’s literature. The professional literature collection features information on children’s and young adult literature, reading promotion and library activities aimed at children, as studied by different disciplines. Iedereen Leest mainly collects (physical and digital) publications in Dutch, English, French and German. The collection as a whole is unique in Flanders. It is the only specialist library to focus on children’s literature and reading promotion and large parts of the collection are not available anywhere else in Flanders. Through its website, Iedereen Leest also provides more detailed information about these and other references, as well as studies about reading and nurturing lifelong readers.
Iedereen Leest stimulates research into reading and nurturing lifelong readers. Together with Stichting Lezen Nederland, it organises the biennial Scriptieprijs Leesbevordering. This prize is awarded to the best master’s thesis on nurturing lifelong readers. This includes such research themes as reading culture, reading behaviour, reading motivation, reading profiles, and good practices in this field. An independent jury evaluates the dissertations on various criteria, such as scientific quality and relevance. In 2020, the winning thesis investigated the impact on pupils’ social cognition of reading books versus watching films. The award was presented for the first time in 2004.
Iedereen Leest collaborates with universities and universities of applied sciences on research projects, highlights relevant research proposals, and assists students with their research. The broad informative offer that Iedereen Leest develops – including educational manuals and inspiration guides, as well as physical study days and online learning processes – is always based on scientific and practical insights.
Seminars and conferences help professionals and volunteers to get the latest insights on reading promotion. Iedereen Leest sets up a varied offer of offline and online trainings to inspire people. In 2020, a first 'Iedereen Leest'-conference was organized to emphasize the importance of reading and reading promotion (conference report in Dutch). On 24 October 2024, a second conference (in Dutch) explores how professionals from different sectors can work (together) for effective reading promotion. Together with the Ghent based Dr Guislain Museum, Iedereen Leest organized the International Conference Culture & Mental Health in November 2022. You can discover more about this conference via two reports below. In November 2024, a second edition will be held.
