The Ønskebok website is the largest international project Opening the Book has undertaken. Eva Haga Rogneflåten of ABM-utvikling (the Norwegian Museums, Libraries and Archives Council) first discovered whichbook.net as part of a presentation Rachel Van Riel made at a conference in Reykjavik in 2002. She saw its value immediately – not just as a great new way to engage readers but also as a way to get librarians to think differently about their job.

It took three years to get the funding in place – the Norwegian Arts Council came in as well as ABM-utvikling - and in 2005 Opening the Book was contracted to create ønskebok.no.

The Ønskebok project involved:

• training 60 Norwegian librarians to be whichbook readers in a mix of face-to-face and online sessions
• working with 5 editors in face-to-face sessions in England and Norway
• designing and building the public site in two languages - Bokmål and Nynorsk
• designing and building a management site for readers and editors in Bokmål and English
• linking from whichbook entries to author/title level in public and school library catalogues across Norway
• designing publicity materials including banners, T-shirts, business cards, badges
• provided training and consultancy on marketing the site

The site had a fantastic launch in September 2007 with the Minister of Culture, rap poets and hundreds of young people and it was featured on national television. In 2009 management of the site was successfully transferred to Aust-Agder library and cultural development but when ABM-utvikling was abolished and its functions transferred to the National Library it was decided in 2011 to discontinue the project. Norway has a very high use of Facebook, however, and it was partly Norwegian interest and discussions which motivated Opening the Book to redesign the whichbook site with lots more functionality in 2011. We are only sorry that readers in Norway couldn't benefit.

Ønskebok launch event venue

Ønskebok launch featured a performance from Norway's biggest rap stars

Ønskebok at Oslo Queerfest
In the latest successful publicity for Ønskebok, ABM-utvikling took a stall at the Oslo Queerfest highlighting the way that whichbook enables readers to choose books with gay and lesbian main characters.

Ønskebok at Oslo Queerfest

The Ønskebok marquee

Display of gay and lesbian interest books available on Ønskebok