A duty (cultivating the culture of books) that turns into a pleasure (reading). The best possible campaign, from this point of view, is #ioleggobecause, a national initiative for the education and promotion of reading organized byItalian Publishers Association (AIE). And the response is always positive throughout Italy: 116,000 books have been donated by publishers for the 2023 edition. Furthermore, the volumes, arriving within this month, are in addition to the 482,749 already donated by citizens during the first campaign. Important numbers, testifying to the “contagious nature” of this project, which is increasingly rooted in the territory.
Data from the eighth edition. Thus, with this last phase of contribution, the project ends which saw a total of over 600,000 new books donated and more than 3.9 million students, 25,394 schools, 330 nurseries and 3,609 bookshops involved.
Involvement. “If today #ioleggobecause is able to bring over 600,000 books to schools in just one year, it owes it to the support of many in a network that continues to grow: citizens, publishers, institutions, media. «As the Italian Association of Publishers – declared the president of AIE, Innocenzo Cipolletta – we are proud to have started a project which today is the heritage of the country, an event which is increasingly a book festival which is repeated year after year in schools and in bookshops and which arises from co-planning with the entire supply chain. Creating lasting relationships between citizens, schools, bookstores and libraries is the great value of this initiative.”
Finally, the ten winning schools (the list below) of the 2023 contest were selected from among the 595 participants. Two nursery schools, three primary schools, three lower secondary schools and two upper secondary schools were judged the best in telling with imagination and creativity the theme chosen this year to promote donations, Growing up with books. They will each receive a purchase voucher worth 1,000 euros, to spend on new books.
The contest. A project of this magnitude takes root in a particular way on the School planet. Among the ten Institutes throughout Italy there is a representation from Calabria and Sicily. As far as nursery schools are concerned, it is worth highlighting the exploit of the Istituto Comprensivo Salvo D'Acquisto, Contesse Unrra – Messina which presented a work entitled: “Reading, a delicious food”. The video's presentation message is emblematic: “A child is a small person. He is only small for a while, then he becomes big. He grows up without even noticing us. Slowly and silently, his body lengthens. A child is not a child forever. One fine day he changes, also helped by that magic of reading… Delicious food”.
As regards Calabria, it is also worth mentioning, among the secondary schools, the recognition given to the Michele Guerrisi State Scientific High School of Cittanova, in the province of Reggio Calabria, with the Lib(e)ri project to grow.
Collaborations. #ioleggobecause is an AIE initiative, made possible by the support of the Ministry of Culture through the Center for books and reading and is carried out in collaboration, among others, with the Mim, the Department for information and publishing of the Presidency of the Council of Ministers, the Italian Library Association (AIB), the Italian Booksellers Association (ALI), the Italian Booksellers and Stationers Union (SIL).
