Schools Favor Books Over Screens
- Social posts report Denmark and Norway are committing multi-million investments to prioritize books over screens in schools. - The posts showed measurable engagement, for example 684 likes and 123 reposts on platforms. - Those national moves were cited alongside industry notes about rising print sales and indie bookstore growth (x.com).
Denmark and Norway have both put new public money behind printed books in schools as policymakers pull back from all-screen classrooms. (regeringen.dk) In Denmark, a March 19, 2024 school reform set aside 540 million Danish kroner for books to reduce screen use in teaching and strengthen reading, part of a broader package with 740 million kroner a year for the public school system. (uvm.dk) The Danish government said on August 11, 2025 that the 540 million-kroner plan runs from 2025 to 2034 through the national teaching-materials system, with an estimated 1.5 million additional books for schools. (uvm.dk) In Norway, the government proposed 300 million Norwegian kroner on May 14, 2024 for printed textbooks, saying the earmarked funding was enough for more than 1 million additional books for pupils nationwide. (regjeringen.no) Norway followed that with a November 11, 2024 screen-use report that recommended pupils should have printed textbooks in addition to screens at school, alongside tighter limits for the youngest children. (regjeringen.no) These moves reverse more than a decade of Nordic enthusiasm for classroom digitization. Denmark was an early adopter of tablets in schools, and its 2024 reform explicitly paired more books with “less screen” in everyday teaching. (france24.com) The Norwegian education directorate is still distributing school-library support tied to books and staffing. Its current grant page says the total framework is 103 million kroner, with 10% to 15% reserved for books for school libraries, and notes that extra money in the revised national budget allowed three rounds of allocations in 2024. (udir.no) The school shift has landed during a broader print rebound. Circana BookScan data reported by Publishers Weekly showed U.S. print book sales rose less than 1% in 2024 to 782.7 million units, the first annual increase in three years. (publishersweekly.com) Independent bookstores also kept expanding. The American Booksellers Association’s 2024 annual report said 323 bookstore businesses opened in 2024, a 31% increase from 2023, and Publishers Weekly reported the group’s membership reached 2,433 bookstore companies with 2,844 locations, up 11% year over year. (bookweb.org) The Nordic policies do not end digital teaching. Denmark’s school agreement also folded “technology comprehension” into existing subjects, and Norway’s screen-use panel called for balanced use rather than a blanket rejection of devices. (eurydice.eacea.ec.europa.eu) (regjeringen.no)
