Region Värmland has strengthened its competence in Shared Reading through a mentorship program offered via the English organization The Reader, which owns and manages the method, supported by the Swedish Arts Council's government assignment 'Läsfrämjandelyftet'. Malin Edgren is one of a handful of certified trainers in the Shared Reading method in Sweden. Culture strategist Frida Närman said it feels very good that Värmland now has so much competence in Shared Reading through Malin and trained reading leaders.
Malin Edgren trained as a reading leader in 2021 and has since led reading groups in various contexts, including in collaboration with study associations. In summer 2025, she got the opportunity through Region Värmland to further train as a trainer of reading leaders. The mentorship training with The Reader lasted from June 2025 to the turn of the year and consisted mainly of individual supervision.
She became a certified trainer at the turn of the year. Through Region Värmland and with support from the Swedish Arts Council, Malin Edgren has now trained two groups of new reading leaders, primarily librarians from public libraries, but also school librarians and counselors. The training comprises 24 hours divided into four sessions and is interactive, where participants actively read, reflect, and practice.
Shared Reading is based on participants gathering and reading shorter texts aloud together—often poetry—and discussing the experiences that arise in the moment. The method's strength is that it requires no prior knowledge. Shared Reading is a method that works for all people, with no prior knowledge required—just being present in the room, and the democratic aspect that all voices are equally valued is one of the method's cornerstones.
Malin Edgren described literature as belonging to everyone, regardless of reading habits, allowing for strong experiences when encountering texts together with others. She also noted that the training is costly, with only a handful of trainers in Sweden who mostly work in slightly different ways, and approval requires both experience in leading groups and understanding of how to use the method in various situations.