Ljubljana City Library has launched a new project to encourage reading among adults entitled ‘City Reading’.

On Wednesday 23 November 2011, Ljubljana City Library showcased a new reading project called ‘City Reading’ which is intended to stimulate adult reading. The central goal of the project is to promote good literature and develop reading culture, highlight domestic (this year) and foreign literary cultural treasures and to encourage readers to socialise and exchange opinions. The project will be accompanied by a whole range of events, from literary evenings to workshops on creative writing and speed reading.

“Reading literature is an investment in life that helps us to become more mature personalities, to better understand the world around us, to more easily sympathise with other people’s fates, to more logically and clearly express that we are inquisitive and creative. If every parent were aware of how essential it is to take a child to the library and encourage them to read and if every parent knew how reading to them can help them to understand the world and survive in good and bad, then we would certainly realise the desire of Ljubljana City Library that every Ljubljana resident should visit one of our libraries at least once a year. The City Reading project is an invitation to active reading” explained Jelka Gazvoda, director of Ljubljana City Library at the project launch.

The project opened on 23 November 2011 (as part of the Days of Public Libraries), and concludes on World Book Day, 23 April 2012. The final event with the handing out of prizes and awards is to be on 23 May 2012, when we celebrate Ljubljana City Library Day.

The project is intended for adults, members of Ljubljana City Library who are aged 16 and over. From the accompanying list of 67 works by Slovene writers and poets, readers can choose between social and societal novels, travelogues, biographies, historical novels, crime stories and poetry. The varied and extensive list will make choosing easier for readers and offer a chance to read authors and genres that are less frequently reached. The selected works are available for borrowing in Ljubljana City Library branches.

The City Reading project is to be run every year, and the list of selected books will change each year so that not only Slovene but also quality foreign authors will find their way onto the list. Between November and April, readers will be able to choose at least five books from the list offered, read them and share opinions on the leaflet form, which they can leave at the library or send back by post. It’s also possible to take part on the internet. There is a list of works with content descriptions on the Ljubljana City Library website as well as links to the COBISS library catalogue. Books can be selected and reserved from home or work, and it’s also possible to fill in an e-form to join the City Reading project participants.

The latest project information and happenings will be available on Ljubljana City Library’s Facebook and Twitter profiles.

Ljubljana City Library