A few children sit down in the small pa- vilion. Staring up at the arched ceiling they see glittering shards of mirrored glass, co- loured yellow, green, blue, red and black. The tiny rhomb-shaped pieces form stars and cubes in constantly changing patterns. It is an optical illusion, the product of a mil- lennium-old tradition of Persian glass art. The pavilion is a part of the ‘Magic Mantle’, an exhibition for children featuring Islamic art and design.

The Magic Mantle

Barbro Bolonassos is in charge of the
Fisksätra Library:
“When we started the project ‘The
Treasure of Language’ we discovered
that it was difficult to find children’s
literature from other parts of the
world, especially bilingual literature.
During a visit to London we managed
to make contact with the publisher
Mantra. Their children’s book Journey
Through Islamic Art has now been
translated into twenty-four languages.
At roughly the same time we initiated
the production of the ‘Magic Mantle’
exhibition which has subsequently
attracted a lot of attention. Libraries in
Sweden, Denmark and Norway are
interested in displaying the exhibition.”

People from all over the world live in
Fisksätra, a suburb just outside of
Stockholm. The area was developed
about thirty years ago as part of the socalled
‘Million-Programme’ designed to
solve the acute housing problem prevailing
at the time. A few years later the
first Chileans arrived as political refu
gees. Since then Fisksätra’s population
has reflected the upheavals of world
politics: War, political oppression, social
misery and poverty. People here
come from around eighty countries
and speak fifty different languages.

The library is the door to the invisible
municipality. During recent years there
has been, with the exception of the library,
virtually no municipal service in
the centre of Fisksätra. Many of the inhabitants
here have been forced to reestablish
their lives in a new country.
Many have difficult experiences behind
them. They need permanent housing,
Swedish language lessons, work, allowance
benefits, schooling for children
and adults and parent support. They
need to feel as though they are a part
of society and to be given the opportunity
to be responsible citizens. And
they go to the library with all their
questions.

Children and young people go there
too. It is a place to be after school and
during the holidays. Some are there
while they wait for their parents to
come home and unlock the apartment
door.

How then can one best understand the
concept of the library in an area like
Fisksätra?

“Different kinds of local communities
place different demands on their library”
says Barbro Bolonassos. “The
inhabitants here come to the library for
help with their various needs, hopes
and expectations. Moreover, many of
our patrons, both children and adults,
want the library staff to help them with
different, sometimes quite difficult
moral issues. They come too, with a
never-ending stream of project ideas
that they want to carry out together
with the library. We do not have the
resources for that kind of work, but we
do try to see that these ideas come to
the attention of people who have.”

Long-term development

‘The Treasure of Language’ project was
designed to create long-term development
in Fisksätra. The idea that
language itself, foreign languages and
multilingualism, is a commodity or
‘treasure’ should be seen in the light of
the municipality’s short-sighted political
planning and the view that Fisksätra
is a ‘problem area’. Thanks to the
project the library has been able to
extend its cooperation with preschools,
schools, churches and local voluntary
associations such as Rosen, a local
women’s association. Barbro Bolonassos
continues:
“A few years ago native language
tuition was significantly reduced in
Sweden. My opinion is that this was a
tragedy both for individuals and Swedish
society as a whole. Language is a
way of seeing the world. Something
happens when people stop using their
native language, a vacuum emerges and
unique perspectives disappear.”

The emphasis of the project on longterm
development has become even
more important due to the fact that
other municipal language-projects, art
therapy and summer camps for refugee
children have been terminated.
“The most important aspect of the
project” says Barbro Bolonassos “has
been that we have established a cooperative
structure for Fisksätra’s children
and their parents. Another important
question has been the introduction of
further education courses for everyone
in the area who works with children
and young people. We organise workshops
around current research into
children’s language development, bilingualism,
intercultural pedagogy, the
importance of the arts in the teaching
process, as well as segregation and integration.”

Arena for democracy

The Fisksätra Library works with the
question of culture as a fundamental
right, a basis for empowerment in the
area. Part of this work has resulted in
an attention-getting proposal, a Policy
Programme for Local Culture (2005).
The proposal outlines a far-reaching
collaboration between local initiatives
and the establishment of creative new
networks in the areas of schools, education,
cultural activity and citizenship.

The library has also, during 2006,
established a very distinct profile:
Arena for Democracy - language,
health, society. The library staff has on
occasion felt that their activities have
covered too wide a spectrum. The
above profile has allowed them to pinpoint
this complexity and focus on it as
a beneficial source of deep experience
and competence.

Arena for Democracy also plays a significant
role in a local community that
does not have a meeting locale. The
group working for a local community
centre in Fisksätra has had an uphill
struggle for several years. The library,
which more or less functions as an unofficial
community centre, has supported
this group from the start, in all
manner of ways. There are however
plans under way to establish a community
centre in one of the local schools.

The library’s involvement with the
entire social structure in Fisksätra has
in recent years increased the pressure
on local politicians as well as Stena, a
local real estate developer. A special
working group for Fisksätra has now
been established with the aim of coordinating
the municipality’s traditionbound
routines.

“‘The Treasure of Language project’ is”
says Barbro Bolonassos “now in its
third and last year. The question is how
the project can continue when Government
subsidy is no longer available. We
hope that both ‘The Treasure of Language
project’ and the ‘Communication
Project’ (help with homework, study
groups for parents) will be able to
continue as regular activities under the
auspices of the planned Family Centre,
which will be administered by the
municipality and the county council. If
we manage this, the project has accomplished
its goal of introducing complicated
questions of alienation and integration,
health and citizenship into
local practice on an everyday basis.”

Further reading:
For more information about The Treasure of Language
project and the Magic Mantle exhibition, contact
Barbro Bolonassos, enhetsledare, Fisksätra Bibliotek.

Amelie Tham
Freelance journalist
specialising in cultural issues

barbro.bolonassos@nacka.se