Someone has finally noticed that Romanians do not read. With an average of 5 euros a year spent on books by a Romanian, we are on the last place compared to any other European country, so the Federation of Romanian Publishers and Distributors decided to start a national campaign to promote reading as a means to personal and social development. Yaaay!
I am not sure about that social development, but anything bookwise taking place in Romania is worth noticing and even applauding, although there are plenty of criticism that can be expressed: the campaign only happens in several cities, so calling the campaign national is a bit too much; reaching people in cities with plenty of book shops is less impressive than going into small towns where book shops hardly exist and literary events are practically nonexistent.
Still, I am looking forward to finding more about this campaign, initiated a week ago. Maybe the Federation will provide more info on the related events, contests and book launches...
I'm always shocked when I read statistics about how much people do NOT read. Can you imagine to only read five books a year? Or worse, none at all!? *faints*
ReplyDeleteI myself have fainted as well, especially after realizing how little even small students read and they always associate books with something boring... maybe because there is no one around them when they are little to point to fun books? Also, books are quite expensive here, so there is this category of people who do not read because they actually have to buy food :((
ReplyDeleteWhat is the library system like in Romania?
ReplyDeleteyup, books are not that cheap here, and that is why i usually buy them when they're on sale. like today :))
ReplyDelete@Mihai: what did you buy, what did you buy? :)
ReplyDelete@Debbie: Thank you for visiting! Libraries do not usually update their catalogue, due to the lack of funds, so if you want to read something published last year, you have to buy it. Also, books are not covered, so they tend to be dirty after one or two reads 9this is what has always put me off when wanting to borrow books during college).
ReplyDeleteShall be telling you, but not quite today. All I can say is that it's a book by a romanian writer and so far i find it really enjoyable ;)
ReplyDelete@Mihai: I have already pre-ordered Manuscript from Accra :))
ReplyDeleteI never knew that about Romania (not reading very much). I wonder why that is...are there fewer bookstores? I can't imagine a world without books. Many, many book. So many to read I almost feel overwhelmed. That's my favorite place to be.
ReplyDeleteAlly, I thin, like you, that any project to promote books should be applauded. It doesn't matter it isn't really national: things like this start small, and hopefully next year (or another year if it's not yearly), more cities will take part and so it spreads.
ReplyDeleteYou know World Book Day? It started just in the UK and now there are several countries doing it. :-)
@Bellezza: I think it all comes down to the price. When people do not have money, culture becomes a luxury. Also, people used to read here during communism because in most cases it was the only pass time they had, and the pleasure of sharing a banned book was immense. Nowadays, they are no longer banned, just expensive.
ReplyDelete@Judith: I hope you are right and this is not just an event that people will forget about next year.
ReplyDeleteIndeed, World Book day is becoming little by little a worldwide phenomenon :)