The year 2024 at the Universal Reading Foundation was a time of intensive activities for reading in Poland, implementation of numerous projects. It abounded in quality collaborations, partnerships, projects. Last year FPC turned 6 years old. Summing up the last 12 months, the Universal Reading Foundation would like to thank all Donors, Partners, Friends, Companies, Institutions and all other people who are committed to the promotion of reading and support its activities. Here is an overview of the foundations's most important activities in 2024.
Reading Rules at the House of Literature is a project we started thanks to our cooperation with the City Centre Department of the City of Warsaw in Autumn 2023. The meetings regularly gather a wide range of interested young readers. Last year, we organised 25 meetings with authors and illustrators of books for children and the young. The partner of the entire series is the Świerszczyk - magazine for children. We can already reveal that the Reading Rules series at the House of Literature will continue in 2025.
In April, as part of the Book on Prescription program another training session for the medical community combined with practical workshops took place . In 2024, the initiative was also supported by Polpharma, and the idea of the program was presented during the conferences it organized. The idea was gaining more and more interest from practitioners and the involvement of ambassadors. In the Autumn, together with the Book Institute, as part of “The Little Book the Great Man” program, we created a training program for nurses and midwives, called “The Power of Reading Aloud. The Impact of Early Reading Intervention on Children's Health and Development,” which was attended by more than 1,000 people. Team Federation of European Publishers enabled us to print 60,000 bilingual books: we are currently donating them to medical clinics, which distribute them to children. They will also be given to participants in the upcoming training course, which will take place at the National Library in April.
The Reading Rescuers program has already brought together thousands of leaders - librarians, teachers, experts who support each other, students and parents. Last year we awarded several hundred certificates to participants actively involved in various areas of reading promotion. Currently, the program is in its fourth edition under the title "Joy Flows for Reading", eith Lajkonik as its partner. The brand is strongly engaged in promoting reading and is running a series of book recommendation posts under the theme "Perfect Reads to Crunch On".
In the autumn of 2024, together with HarperKids Polska, HarperCollins Polska and the Nowa Era publishing house, we organized the #CzytamSobiezRadością competition for first-grade classes. Hundreds of schools participated, thousands of books were added to classroom libraries, and numerous reading activities took place, engaged children all over Poland.
The nationwide campaign #ReadingDad2024 aimed at fathers reached a total of 100 MILLION views. It was a huge success, made possible through collaboration, great dedication, and reading initiatives from many sides. Together with the Tatarak Publishing House, we encouraged men to read for the second time. We were also thrilled by the involvement of hundreds of schools, kindergartens, libraries, and other institutions that received our materials, as well as everyone who participated under the slogan #ReadingDad! The campaign logo was also featured at a stand and meeting during the Book Fair in Kraków. The 2025 edition is ahead of us!
Last year, the Foundation for Universal Reading received a nomination for the Astrid Lindgren Memorial Award #ALMA2025! For the Foundation, it is a great honor to be among the nominees from all over the world, the best promoters of reading, and a tremendous joy that our efforts to promote the idea of universal reading, combat literary exclusion, and include everyone in the culture of books have been recognized.
In 2024, The Universal Reading Foundation became the first Polish organization to receive the Library of Congress Literacy Award 2024. This award is a recognition of the organization's achievements in promoting reading, developing innovative methods and practices in this field. In particular, FPC's efforts to increase literacy among refugee communities, families with lower economic status, and those with lower reading skills, as well as providing these communities with activities and materials tailored to their needs, were highly appreciated.
In the fall, our country was struck by devastating floods. As a result, we took action to support affected institutions and help rebuild their collections through the #BooksGiveRefuge campaign. Over the past few months, we have collected 3,000 books for children and adults, which we have donated to several dozen institutions. This effort helps restore a sense of stability and a return to normalcy.
In 2024, the Universal Reading Foundation organized the second international conference connecting the themes of literacy and democracy. This time, under the slogan #LiteracyForDemocracyAndBusiness, a series of meetings took place focused on exchanging ideas about the importance of reading for business, the economy, the development of companies, nations, and citizens.
As part of the conference, two panels were held during the European Forum of New Ideas #EFNI, to which FPC was invited thanks to the openness of the Confederation Lewiatan. The panels featured scientists, business representatives, leaders of foreign non-governmental organizations, and a delegation from the European Commission. The topic of using literacy to build company success was also discussed in greater detail during an expanded conversation at a meeting organized by FPC at the Goyki 3 Art Incubator in Sopot. The event took place with the support of SAiW and the National Center for Culture.
#GiveAHelpfulBook is a slogan that, during the special time at the end of the year, brought many people together to help those in need. As part of the holiday campaign, a lot of good was accomplished, and attention was drawn to the need to increase access to books and their therapeutic role. Even before Christmas, we prepared 450 books that were donated to the Volunteer Fire Department in Kłodzko and became part of the gift packages in the "Gift a Star" campaign. Another 500 copies will be delivered this month to additional Social Welfare Centers.
In 2024, librarians and local government officials from Zabrze signed, together with us, the unprecedented Zabrze Declaration – a commitment to work for the promotion of reading across all city departments. The Warsaw Cultural Observatory team, in cooperation with the Department of Culture, proposed that the Universal Reading Foundation conduct in-depth, three-stage training for cultural workers in Warsaw. Participants of the #ReadingPoland workshops created the first expert publication of our Coalition: thus, "The Reading School. Reflections on the Role of Books in Schools" was born. Leaders of Provincial Libraries in Olsztyn and Poznań established the first regional partnerships with FPC. These are important partnerships resulting from several years of efforts to develop reading promotion strategies. They demonstrate that large institutions want to translate this into local and regional actions. Marcin Kuchciński, the Marshal of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, became the first local government official to collaborate with FPC and invest in a holistic strategy to raise the level of literacy in his region.
In December 2024, the professional team from Meissner&Partners and the Palace of the Republic helped us organize the second charity auction "Art Against Exclusion." On this occasion, nearly 20 artists donated their works to us, and generous bidders won pieces for nearly 140,000 zlotys.
In 2024, the Abedik printing house launched the "Book groats for reading" campaign, inviting publishers to donate one grosz to FPC for each printed copy, with the company adding another grosz for each copy as well. The initiative involved 20 publishing houses, which supported reading promotion efforts through their participation.
The Dwukropek publishing house also joined the Foundation's efforts by donating 1% of the revenue from the sales of two titles from the ToSięCzyta series. Additionally, the company Nad Wyraz supported FPC's activities by creating a collection of #Readingdad merchandise.
The Universal Reading Foundation thanks everyone for a wonderful year of intensive work, which would not have been possible without our supporters. 2025 will be a year of new challenges and ongoing efforts for the future of our country and its citizens.
