Prime Minister Donald Tusk received an unusual letter about immunity. It is signed by a surprising group.

Letter The initiative, addressed to Prime Minister Donald Tusk, was initiated by the Reading Poland Coalition and focuses on the "soft" skills necessary to develop the most "hard" individual and social resilience possible. The signatories include organizations, companies, and associations from the fields of psychology, digital law, public and social policy, technology, corporate business, and media.

An unusual letter with surprising signatories

Yesterday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk received an unusual letter signed by a diverse group of organizations and companies, presenting reading in the light of research as a public issue of strategic importance in the ongoing cognitive war.

The signatories are the Batory Foundation, the Stocznia Foundation, the Panoptykon Foundation, the Institute of Digital Citizenship Foundation, Tygodnik Powszechny, the THINKTANK Centre, Employers of Poland, the Polish Psychological Association, Fonia Group, Ideo Group and the Children's Development Foundation.
named after JA Comenius.

Reading as a matter of safety and development thanks to AI

The authors of the letter argue that the connection between reading and resilience is critically important in light of research.

Resistance to disinformation. The critical thinking we develop through reading books improves our ability to identify disinformation. According to an OECD study (The OECD Truth Quest Survey, 2024) distrust towards social media and reading from other sources increases our resistance to disinformation by as much as 15%.

Social resilience. Defined by neuroscientists (M.Wolf, Adriaan van der Weel and others) so-called deep, linear reading builds communication skills, empathy, openness, agency, and self-confidence. This is the foundation for the readiness for self-organization and effective response of local communities.

Ready for an AI world. Reading is a prerequisite for consciously using artificial intelligence. Without well-developed broad cognitive competencies (critical thinking, analytical, synthetic, cause-and-effect, and logical reasoning, and the ability to contextualize through knowledge accumulation), we will not be able to effectively use AI for Poland's development.

Democratic participation. Research shows that people who read are more engaged in democratic life and civic processes.[1].

Sweden – translating scientific knowledge into concrete practice

Sweden is investing more and more in reading as a foundation for democracy and cognitive resilience. In April of this year, the Swedish government announced a new strategy:„Sverige – Ett läsande land” (Sweden – reading country) for the years 2026–2031, allocating ~100 million euros per year for its implementation. In the document, the Swedish government states directly: "A society that does not read becomes more susceptible to disinformation, reading is a condition for the conscious use of AI and democratic life."„

In Poland, this connection between reading and resilience is still unclear. The authors of the letter argue that research shows that reading is a critical factor in our resistance to disinformation and the development of innovation. According to the authors, this recognition should be reflected in a significant investment in reading strategies in the 2027 state budget.

Proposal

The proposal contained in the letter is PLN 0.5 billion per year to support Poland's cognitive resilience through reading – that is, proportionally, one third of Swedish expenditure per capita. In the scale of resilience and defense spending, this is a very small investment, and its impact on Poland's resilience landscape could be very significant.

We are delighted that the need to invest in reading as a tool for building resilience and developing innovation has been confirmed by experts from such diverse areas: from the functioning of democratic processes, through mental health, digital law, big businesses and representatives of technology companies. – says Maria Deskur, president of the Universal Reading Foundation.

Specific budget demands

The letter contains two demands addressed to Prime Minister Tusk:

1. Restoration National Reading Development Program (frozen in 2026) in an expanded version and adapted for the purpose of building security and resilience.
2. Incorporating soft and educational elements of building resistance to disinformation into Population Protection and Civil Defence Programme for 2027–2031.

The full text of the letter is available for download at: www.czytacapolska.pl 

#ReadingPoland #ReadingState #Immunity

[1] Boatright,Michael,Faust,Mark, Emerson, Reading, and Democracy: Reading as Engaged Democratic Citizenship, Democracy & Education, 2013. https://democracyeducationjournal.org/home/vol21/iss1/6/