Reading is for everyone - this is the motto of the Evening of Friends of the Universal Reading Foundation, which will take place on September 10 at the National Library, Together with her guests, she addressed the topic of what the universality of reading really is and how to strive for it.
The Universal Reading Foundation emphasizes the importance of cooperation, openness to joint reading initiatives and appreciation of the activities of others in its activities. This year, for the fourth time, it awarded the Karyatids of Reading – awards for exceptionally committed
in raising the level of reading in Poland. During the event, the “Piórko” award was also presented, a prize in the Biedronka competition aimed at debutants.
Prize Library of Congress Literacy Awards
The Friends of the Foundation for Public Reading Evening began with the highlighting of an important piece of news for the Foundation – its activities were honored with the Library of Congress Award for the Promotion of Reading (Library of Congress Literacy Awards Successful Practices Honoree). "In promoting reading, we all need each other. This award is particularly important to us, we would not have received it if not for the multitude of wonderful organizations and people ready to cooperate. Our meeting confirms this - we have one goal, which is universal reading, and one dream - for everyone in Poland, thanks to access to books and reading, to be able to realize their full potential." - said Maria Deskur, president of FPC.
Accessibility is key to universal reading
Accessibility is key to universality, a sentence that resonated very strongly, both in the context of access to books and the operation and openness of libraries.
"Providing access and inviting readers is a very important task for libraries. We are glad that the revitalization works of the National Library have increased its accessibility for everyone. We want to be open to every reader on a daily basis. Here, physically, but also in activities with others. We are glad that once again we are hosting the Foundation, this time awarded - very rightly, for reaching those who do not read - this is key." - he assured Dr. Tomasz Makowski, Director of the National Library.
Reading School – a reading ecosystem as the foundation of democracy
In addition to the home and library, school is an important place to promote reading. This topic was raised in a publication developed as part of the Reading Poland coalition, entitled "Reading school as a condition of equal opportunities for every child". Dr. Kinga Białek, co-author and lecturer at the School of Education, spoke about it.: "The reading ecosystem is the foundation of democracy that we can build in every school. The concept is simple: an ecosystem is a combination of inanimate matter, in our case books, with animate matter, here – people who read. Every school could be such an ecosystem where books are available in the classroom, library, recreation room, and also at home, and where every teacher is a reader, shares his/her readings, encourages reading and shows that he/she reads..”
#TataTeżCzyta is a nationwide success
Popularizing reading is of course primarily the task of parents. Reading together supports children's development, but also helps build relationships. Statistically, men read less often - both to themselves and to children. This was the purpose of the nationwide campaign #TataTeżCzyta, organized by FPC and Tatarak Publishing House. The gathered guests watched a summary of this year's edition, which collected a total of 100 million views.
How to invite everyone to read?
An important part of the evening was a discussion panel, whose participants talked about different approaches to promoting reading – they agreed on one thing: reading really is for everyone.
About the phenomenon of the young, nomen omen, a literary genre in Poland young adult, said Anna Wyżykowska, marketing manager of Muza publishing house, which conducted research among readers of the "Family of Monets" series: "The popularity of these books inspired us to investigate how this title affects the awakening of interest in literature and further reading behavior. It turns out that for a large number of readers it is the first book, thanks to which they reach for the next ones."
The state of children's literature in Poland, also in relation to the seriality of books published, was also commented on by literary critic Joanna Olech: "Ideally, every child should read the best literature. But if we have to choose between universality and elite quality, I side with universality, even though I spend most of my life showing and promoting quality."
Łukasz Dominiak talked about his personal experiences of discovering the pleasure of reading. Dad, an internet creator, also a psychologist and HR specialist, emphasized the great influence of reading on employee skills – both soft and hard. As he emphasizes, in his work, he sees in particular how Being a reader increases your critical and creative thinking skills, as well as your ability to empathize and understand other people. These are the features that are listed among the competences of the future.
Another voice in the discussion was the perspective of building access to books from the side of big business. Arkadiusz Mierzwa, Communications Director of the Biedronka chain, talked about how to combine the promotion of reading with business goals. The numbers clearly indicate that such actions bring results and bring benefits not only to the company.
"We sell over 12 million books in the Biedronka chain every year, of which almost 8 million are books for children and young people. We also make sure that our largest and most popular loyalty campaign with Gangs always includes educational books for children. And so, with Słodziaki we taught how to take care of nature, but also how to believe in yourself and your dreams, with Fajniaki – ecology, with Bystrzaki – saving, and with Mocniaki – healthy eating. Now with Produkciaki we teach children how to shop wisely. One of the goals of our "Piórko" competition is also to invite the youngest to read. We have been organizing it for 10 years and in the previous editions we have published 9 titles in a total number of over 560 thousand copies. In this way, we want to make the proverbial Johnny learn how to spend time with books, which will pay off for the future John," Mierzwa explained.
The “Piórko” Award – promotion of children's literature at Biedronka
The importance of access to books for the Biedronka chain was also highlighted during the next part of the evening, when the “Piórko” award was presented. The brand wants to enable millions of customers visiting their stores to engage with literature. In addition to books in the sales offer, it is strongly involved in promoting children's literature - it organizes one of the largest literary competitions in Poland. The "Piórko" award has been granted for ten years, addressed to debuting authors, emphasizing that everyone can try their hand at the world of books. The competition is held in two stages - the first for the authors of the text, and the second - for illustrators. The winner of the second stage this year is Dorota Żak, who will illustrate the winning story by Agnieszka Piwoń "My Black Happiness".
Since 2015, over 30,000 works have been submitted to “Piórko” in both categories. So far, nine books have been published and have enjoyed enormous interest among readers. The winners received prizes worth a total of PLN 1.8 million from the organizer and the founder., i.e. the Biedronka chain.
"Part of Biedronka's vision is that reading, like our store, is accessible to everyone. The author of this year's book, Agnieszka Piwoń, heard about the competition while doing her daily shopping at Biedronka. We are happy about this invitation to the world of literature, which we have been sending out for 10 years now, as well as the fact that this tenth award for illustrations is being presented at the National Library." – said Arkadiusz Mierzwa, Communication Director of the Biedronka chain and one of the jurors of the “Piórko” competition.
Caryatids of Reading 2024 awarded
The evening of the Foundation of Universal Reading was full of awards. The next awards granted, this time, by the FPC were: Caryatids of Reading. For the fourth time, those who work in an exceptional way for the benefit of reading in Poland were honored.
"For us, caryatids symbolize the power of support, but also cooperation - caryatids hold the vault together. That is why this plural is important. Caryatid does not stand alone. Power comes from the multitude of entities that together carry the subject of reading forward." - emphasizes Katarzyna Konopka, a member of the Board of the Universal Reading Foundation.
The first category consisted of awards for those supporting FPC projects, especially the largest of them – this year's #TataTeżCzyta campaign. The following received the distinction: Polpharma, Anna Lewandowska, Tatarak publishing house, Brain agency, Foods by Ann, Legimi, NadWyraz.com, OTOFILM, Polish State Railways, Fonia, School and Pedagogical Publishing House, Legia Fight Club club, ORKA Postproduction Studio, SAR Marketing Communication Association, Torwar Central Sports Centre, Information Society Development Foundation, GroupM, Ergo Hestia, the Capital City of Warsaw, the Department of Culture of the City of Zakopane.
Awards were also received by representatives of the printing industry: Abedik, Anczyca, Artdruk, Burgo Eastern Europe Sp. z o. o., Perfekt, Europapier Polska, Follak, Leyko, RK Polska, Sowa.
"We live in a digital and artificial intelligence world, but printing, reaching a paper book or brochure and reading on paper is still a fundamental issue. We would like to thank all the wonderful printers and paper makers who printed a total of 16,000 copies of brochures pro bono for us," said Grzegorz Majerowicz, member of the FPC Management Board.
#DobryPartner is another category in which the Powszechnego Czytania Foundation honored exceptional companies and organizations in gratitude for their exceptional support on many fronts. This title was awarded to: National Centre for Culture, Platon Distribution and Nowa Era Publishing House. Awards #DobryWzór was awarded to representatives of each of the three sectors. Caryatid #DobryWzór Institution received the Zabrze City Hall – which was the first in Poland to sign a declaration of multi-departmental cooperation and a commitment by officials from all departments to work on readership.
In the category #DobryWzór Biznes was awarded to Astra Zeneca – for implementing a pro-reading approach within the company policy. The last award and expression of recognition for many years of tireless efforts and great achievements in favor of reading, which inspire and motivate everyone from the literary, book, educational and cultural environments, was Caryatid #DobryWzór Non-Profit, received by the All Poland Reads to Children Foundation.
The awards given in many categories show the broad perspective of the Universal Reading Foundation on cooperation in activities promoting reading. The universality of reading is a big challenge, but also a common, clear goal that should unite different groups. The involvement of all sectors – both authorities and local governments, but also big business, with the invaluable support of non-governmental organizations is the key to success.
"The Reading Poland Coalition has been working for some time on how to effectively invite businesses to become increasingly involved in promoting reading – first and foremost for their own benefits, both business-related (because a reading employee is a well-cooperating, highly empathetic innovator – it's good to have such people in your company) and image-related.
And I am very pleased to invite you to this year's EFNI congress, the European Forum for New Ideas in Sopot, where the Universal Reading Foundation will take part.
in two panels." – invited Maria Deskur, president of FPC.
The Evening of Friends is an annual event organized by the Universal Reading Foundation with the aim of honoring people and institutions that support the idea of universal reading in a unique way. but also an opportunity to meet and exchange ideas between people for whom reading is important, the Foundation emphasizes that understanding between organizations working for reading is key, "no one can handle the matter alone". The event was attended by several hundred Guests - representatives of the book market, culture, media, business and diplomacy.
The Universal Reading Foundation encourages you to learn more about its projects for reading in Poland and support its activities. Information about the FPC is available at: www.fpc.org.pl
