Happy International Book Day

Today we celebrate the International Book Day, and from the International Association of Educating Cities we highlight several initiatives developed by cities in the network to foster reading and facilitate access to culture:

• The Boralê Reading Incentive Programme, in Passo Fundo, encourages reading habits among students in the municipal school network through actions that include the acquisition of books as well as literary experiences in different cultural spaces across the city.
• In Esplugues de Llobregat, a significant intervention is carried out through school libraries to improve reading comprehension and contribute to the educational success of all students with the Reading Promotion and Support Project.
• Since 1994 the municipality of Nova Petrópolis has implemented an annual program with different initiatives aimed at all audiences. Among the activities carried out, the most notable are the book fair and the Municipal Day for the Promotion of Reading.
• Barcelona’s Menjallibres program provides educational support to primary school students to help them acquire basic literacy skills through games and activities that foster reading, improve reading comprehension, enhance oral language and the vehicular language, encourage expression, and strengthen the connection with learning during this key stage.
• In issue no. 58 of the Portuguese Territorial Network Newsletter, you will find various initiatives related to reading, such as the one promoted by the Tomaz Borba Vieira Municipal Library, in Lagoa (Azores), which has made available a new Braille collection for people with visual impairments. The collection includes 43 works, including monographs and periodicals, with titles for both children and adults. In the same issue, Portimão shares its Pre‑Reading Skills Program, aimed at 5‑ and 6‑year‑old preschool children, which includes 20 structured sessions that strengthen essential skills for learning to read and write.
• Finally, Matosinhos presents the Mobile School Library Team, made up of four non‑teaching staff members who are responsible for cataloguing, correcting records, adding copies, labeling, and organizing collections according to bibliographic standards, with the aim of ensuring an accessible and well‑structured archive.

Get inspired and share your city’s experiences to promote reading and the dissemination and democratization of culture.

We wish you a Happy World Book Day!