On December 3–4, Lublin hosted the latest workshop meeting of the Reading Poland Coalition (Koalicja Czytająca Polska), a collaborative initiative dedicated to raising literacy levels across the country. For another consecutive year, the workshops brought together representatives from public institutions, non-governmental organizations, and the business sector.
The meeting was opened by the Vice President of Lublin, Beata Stepaniuk-Kuśmierzak: "Reading is an incredible tool for building community well-being. I am delighted that the Reading Poland Coalition chose Lublin for its proceedings, especially as we are intensively preparing to hold the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture in 2029," emphasized the Vice President.
The Coalition focuses on "bottom-up" strategies for fostering reading habits—starting in clinics, nurseries, and families from birth, and extending through kindergartens, schools, libraries, bookstores, local governments, and corporations. These efforts are yielding tangible results.
"We are proud that Zabrze became the first city in Poland to integrate reading into its official urban development strategy. We did this several years ago and are now seeing incredible fruits: the Municipal Public Library has become a hub for cross-departmental action, collaborating with the social affairs and health departments. A few months ago, we signed a long-term agreement with the District Labor Office (PUP). We have already completed the first training sessions for their staff, who have begun using reading as a tool to build competencies for the labor market," says Tomasz Iwasiów, Director of the Municipal Public Library in Zabrze.
Other significant outcomes of the Coalition's work include the launch of Poland's first Provincial Reading Development Program by the Marshal of the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, as well as the publication of the "Reading School" (Czytająca szkoła) brochure—an expert resource supported by specialized training programs.
The expertise gained from the Reading Poland workshops is now making an impact on an international scale. "Since 2025, we have been leading a pan-European program for reading development and author support, utilizing strategies originally developed here in Poland. It is truly encouraging that the Polish contribution to the fight for critical thinking, civic participation, and information security—all of which are direct results of reading—is so significant," emphasized Maria Deskur, President of the Universal Reading Foundation and coordinator of the Reading Poland Coalition.
