“Jolabokaflod”
Every holiday season, the global community of librarians and book lovers lights up with envy at Iceland’s unique tradition: Jolabokaflod.
Jolabokaflod means literally, “Christmas Book Flood.” Break the word apart and it’s not quite so intimidating: Jola = Christmas (like “yule”), boka = book, flod = flood. Honestly, it’s probably the easiest word you’ll find in the Icelandic language if you’re a native English speaker!
While people in the United States often give books as gifts, it’s an expectation in Iceland. In fact, most books in Iceland are sold from September to November as people buy gifts for the holidays. Every household in Iceland receives an annual national catalog called Bokatidindi (“Book Bulletin”) in mid-November, which lists suggestions for titles to give as gifts to friends and family that year. Wouldn’t it be great to get a gift suggestion list delivered to your door every season, so you wouldn’t have to wonder what to get everyone this year?
The tradition of Jokabokaflod started during World War II, when nearly everything was rationed except paper. You couldn’t gift sweet foods without sugar, and the materials used to make toys might be co-opted for the war effort. Books, on the other hand, were plenteous.
The choice to give books as gifts was easy since Icelanders were already readaholics, and still are. At five titles published for every 1,000 people, Iceland surpasses every other country in the world for the number of books published per capita. In the U.S., a small number of people purchase and borrow most of the books, and only a small percentage of people read more than one book per year. But in Iceland, most people read several books per year. They may not read in bulk, but nearly everyone reads books regularly. Popular book genres and subjects vary, although fiction and biographies are predictable favorites.
But it’s not simply the fact that books are THE prized Christmas gift in Iceland that makes librarians and book lovers across the world sigh wistfully; it’s Iceland’s special Christmas tradition surrounding books. On Christmas Eve, Icelanders open their presents, then spend the rest of the evening reading their book-gifts quietly while they sip hot cocoa or jolabland (an alcohol-free Christmas ale). That has to be the very definition of “cozy.” While that might sound a bit anti-social to our extroverted American party style, there’s a certain level of appeal in spending a relaxed evening at home, filling your mind with knowledge or stories as opposed to the harried, stressed, keeping-up-with-the-Joneses, “what on earth can I get him/her this year” way that we Americans tend to do Christmas.
If you’re still stumped for what to give someone for Christmas, why not give them a book? You can even look up Iceland’s Bokatindi online for ideas. Even if you don’t read Icelandic, you may recognize some familiar authors!
How could you incorporate reading into your Christmas this year? Join the Icelanders in a magical celebration of reading this holiday season with your own Jolabokaflod!
– Botetourt County Libraries
