Zabrze, a leader in reading: it was the first city in Poland to sign a commitment by officials to work on reading.
Innovation is what defines a leader – said Steve Jobs, certainly referring to himself. Today, Zabrze has become a real Jobs among Polish cities: it was the first city in Poland to notice and decide to use the development potential of reading for its community.
"Supporting the development of reading in Zabrze is an action for the common good, therefore it is important for all institutions and entities to work in this area, undertaking joint initiatives and creating strategies for the development of reading in our city.
Reading, understanding and analyzing texts are skills that we are not born with, we have to develop them, therefore it is important not only to have proper education, but above all to show that this is a key competence for success in the personal and professional life of every resident. Looking at reading from the perspective of the city, it is a competence that enables the economic development of the community through the diversification of know-how and cooperation of different areas. Reading is a tool for building a community with more equal opportunities, which in turn affects longer life, stronger democracies and economic growth.”
– we read in the declaration of cooperation signed by the Development Department of the Zabrze Office and the Municipal Public Library on March 20 this year.
Zabrze is heading in the right direction. I am glad that the initiator of Zabrze joining the idea of the "Reading Poland" Coalition is the Municipal Public Library - this is another proof of the role libraries can play in the development of their communities. Libraries are not a cost in the budget, but a tool for modernization – emphasized Dr. Tomasz Makowski, director of the National Library and chairman of the National Library Council, witness of the official signing of the declaration.
We are surprised that we are the first in Poland to reach such conclusions – after all, there are so many studies and publications available showing that reading strengthens citizens' competences in various areas – it creates communities that are intellectually, economically and socially stronger. Investing in reading is simply in the best interests of each community – Tomasz Iwasiów, Director of the Municipal Public Library in Zabrze, and Małgorzata Giela, Head of the Municipal Office Development Department, unanimously emphasize.
"The declaration of cooperation has one basic goal - to introduce a change in the approach
and the mentality of not only officials, but also residents. We believe that mutual actions will allow us to look at reading through the prism of a tool for the development and modernization of society. With the well-being of residents in mind, taking care of their level of education, wealth, life satisfaction, health, striving to eliminate poverty, prevent addictions, and reduce differences in development opportunities, we want to jointly make an effort to promote and support the development of reading in our city," the signatories of the Zabrze declaration continue to write.
A wonderful vision that has a chance of real implementation is an ideal that we rarely see realized. We are very happy that the vision we have been working on for several years together with the members of the “Czytąca Polska” Coalition is being realized before our eyes. This is a great motivation for further work – emphasize the coordinators of the Coalition’s work: Maria Deskur, president of the Powszechnego Czytania Foundation, Katarzyna Janusik, deputy director of the Wrocław House of Literature, Ewelina Szyszkowska, general director of the Polish Chamber of Books, Urszula Chwalba, curator of the Kraków UNESCO City of Literature programme, Grażyna Szarszewska, member of the FPC Board of Trustees, Agnieszka Rasińska-Bóbr, KBF and Hanna Łozowska, Office of the Mayor of Gdańsk for Culture.
The ceremonial signing of the declaration by the Zabrze City Office and the Municipal Public Library opened the "Reading Poland" workshops, which were held for the fifth time and, after Krakow, Sopot, Wroclaw and Warsaw, have just arrived in Zabrze. Participants worked on strategies to support reading at the school, company, commune and national level. The "Reading Poland" Coalition workshops were initiated by the Universal Reading Foundation, Krakow KBF, the Polish Book Chamber and Wroclaw House of Literature; they have been held for the third year now, and the coordinators have been joined by the Office of the Mayor of Gdansk for Culture.
IN I participated in the workshops of the "Reading Poland" Coalition for the first time and I am impressed by the impact that this group of volunteers is beginning to achieve. The signing of the declaration in Zabrze is of course a spectacular success for today, but other strategies are also prepared, for the education sector, regulations in the area of social policy or for business; and seeing how the Coalition works, I am convinced that these next strategies will also be implemented. And we keep our fingers crossed for other cities that will want to follow in Zabrze's footsteps – emphasizes Mikołaj Małaczyński, president of Legimi.
Readership in Poland is significantly lower than in many other European countries. The negative effects of this state of affairs have not been thoroughly studied in Poland, but based on our knowledge of research and analyses of other markets, we believe that Poland loses several, or perhaps even a dozen or so billion złoty annually due to the low percentage of readers.
Improving this situation is the Polish raison d'état. That is why we meet, that is why participants are ready to come from all over Poland – we all understand that the topic is very important.
We are committed to developing a strategy for change based on very diverse points of view – central and local; state and business; directors and more everyday. Taking into account these many voices is crucial for us. This is a methodology that allows us to create, step by step, a real, grounded in reality, well-thought-out, but also feasible strategy for raising the level of readership in Poland. – emphasize the Coalition coordinators.
The Universal Reading Foundation is a non-profit organization established in 2018 with the goal of equalizing children's chances for a good start and Poland's chances for a better future - by raising the level of reading in Poland. In 2019, the Foundation launched a program Prescription Book. Recipe for Success inviting the first pediatrician in the world, who in 1990 began prescribing reading like vitamins, to collaborate. In 2020, on the day schools closed, the Foundation created a campaign #Tere'sTimeToRead urging parents to take their children away from screens. In 2021, with
together with the coordinators of the “Czytująca Polska” Coalition, published the first Polish guide to promoting reading The Superpower of Books and The Superpower of Books in Kindergarten. Since the outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the # campaign has been underway.BookProtects, whose aim is to provide books to refugee children and help Ukrainian publishers, in 2022, in cooperation with the Union of Polish Metropolises, it launched a campaign #ReadingRules, in 2023, it launched the first edition of the campaign #ReadingDad, also organized the first international conference Literacy for Democracy; runs a Christmas fundraising campaign every December #UFreeSuperpowerGoodThe Foundation invites all people interested in raising the level of reading in Poland to cooperate.
KBF is a municipal cultural institution that has been continuously working for the development of creative industries, cultural tourism, the meetings industry and the leisure industry for over twenty years. The main areas of activity of the KBF are: literature, film, music, visual arts, tourism, local initiatives
and education. The institution is involved in organizing and promoting cultural events of local, national and international scope, such as: Misteria Paschalia, the Krakow Film Music Festival, the Conrad Festival, Wianki and many other recognizable brands. KBF is also the co-host of the Potocki Palace, publisher of magazines and operator of the Krakow Culture, Krakow UNESCO City of Literature and Krakow Film Commission programs.
Polish Chamber of Books (PIK) is the economic self-government of the publishing and book industry. The Chamber has been operating since 1990. Its primary task is to ensure the most favorable conditions for the economic development of the industry, literature and reading in Poland. It brings together over 160 companies operating on the book market; it is one of the initiators and co-founders of the Powszechnego Czytania Foundation.
Wrocław House of Literature is an institution established as part of the European Capital of Culture Wrocław 2016. It organizes literary events, from author meetings, through educational projects, literary residencies and publishing activities (as part of Wydawnictwo Warstwy), to festivals and awards, to mention only the Angelus Central European Literature Award and the Silesius International Poetry Festival. WDL also acts as a partner on the side of the city of Wrocław for the activities of the Olga Tokarczuk Foundation and coordinates international literary projects within various cooperation networks, such as the International Cities of Refuge Network (ICORN), to which the capital of Lower Silesia has belonged since 2015.
In 2019, thanks to the application prepared by the WDL team, Wrocław also joined the UNESCO Creative Cities Network as a City of Literature, and in 2022 it signed the founding declaration of a new network of international literary cooperation – UNESCO World Book Capitals.
The Office of the President for Culture is a department of the City Hall in Gdańsk, which actively supports the activities of twelve municipal cultural institutions. Currently, the Office conducts a number of activities strengthening the field of literature, addressed to authors, publishers, booksellers, non-governmental organizations. These include the Gdańsk Cultural Scholarship, which allows for the implementation of creative projects, the Gdańsk Publishing Fund, and support for promotional campaigns for emerging literature and music. Since 2022, there has been a grant competition Gdańsk City of Literature supporting activities that stimulate reading, including strengthening the culture-forming role of bookstores or cultivating the literary heritage of Gdańsk. The Office strengthens activities for reading: a system of rent relief for small bookstores in municipal premises has been developed, the Gdańsk City of Literature team has been established in one of the municipal cultural institutions, and work has begun on the renovation of a historic, former orphanage, which has the potential to become a full-scale house of literature with residential places. In 2010, an international award for poets and translators was established - the European Poet of Freedom. Since 2015, an independent Tadeusz Boy-Żeleński Award for Translation Work has been presented by the Mayor of Gdańsk, which is accompanied by the Odnalezione w Podróżeniu festival.
Gdańsk also hosts residencies for literary authors, translators and scientists, among others in cooperation with the Literary Union, as well as within the International Refuge Network ICORN.
