Stockholm - A Palestinian reading promotion group was Tuesday named winner of the 2009 Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award, a literary prize created in honour of the Swedish creator of numerous popular fiction characters including Pippi Longstocking.

The Tamer Institute for Community Education became the second reading promotion group to win the award that is considered one of the largest literary awards for children and young people, worth 5 million kronor (621,000 dollars).

The prize was created in 2002 by the Swedish government to award writers, illustrators of literature for children and young people and those who promote reading through work that reflects the spirit of the Swedish author Lindgren who died 2002 at age 94.

The Tamer Institute was created in 1989. The 12-member jury cited the institute's "perseverance, audacity and resourcefulness" and that it "for two decades, (has) stimulated Palestinian children's and young adult's love of reading and their creativity."

The institute is active on both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Jury chairman Larry Lempert told Swedish radio news that the Tamer Institute was nominated for the first time in 2003, and "has been in our sights since."

Lempert said the organization had "worked to stimulate children's reading and access to books, which was very close to Astrid Lindgren's own spirit.

"The Tamer Institute found new ways to reach out," he said.

Lempert said the recent conflict in Gaza had no role in the decision to select the Tamer Institute.

The announcement Tuesday was made in the town Vimmerby in southern Sweden, where Lindgren spent her childhood. Crown Princess Victoria was slated to preside at the June 2 award ceremony at the Skansen open-air museum in Stockholm.

In all, 153 candidates from 60 countries, including some 30 institutions that promote reading, were nominated for the 2009 prize.

Australian writer Sonya Hartnett won the 2008 award. (dpa)