The latest barometer «The French and reading» ordered by the CNL at Ipsos in March 2021 confirms a long-term trend, that of readership erosion. Although many French people still read (more than 80% have read at least one book in the year), 2020 was marked by a decline in reading that was certainly linked to the health crisis, with a decrease in travel and the closure of bookstores and libraries.
To curb this phenomenon, the President of the Republic said, in June 2021, reading “great national cause” and called for the mobilization of all actors. For its part, the CNL has launched a major action plan to reaffirm the necessary place of reading in our daily lives, especially for the so-called distant audiences.
The National Book Centre implemented, through partnerships with associative networks, a set of experimental actions in the centres of Maternal and Child Protection (PMI), the Ehpad or prison, rural and priority neighbourhoods. Overview.
Rural and urban reading spaces
In France, nearly 20% of residents live more than 15 minutes' walk or drive to a media library. Equal access to books therefore requires increased support for these places in areas where access is difficult. To promote reading in rural areas, the second tranche of the recovery plan, endowed with €2.4 million, focuses on reading points in rural areas, drawing in particular on departmental libraries.
In the priority areas of city policy (QPV), the CNL supports the development of'ideas box designed by the association Libraries without borders, with a kit media library that unfolds in twenty minutes to create a 100 m cultural space2 equipped with an internet connection, some 20 computers and tablets, electronic and paper books and a cinema.
Reading against exclusion for all generations
In the Ehpad, the SOS Group carried out several actions focused on reading aloud. Among them, intergenerational meetings between students and residents of Ehpad, throughout France, for four months, from March to June.
The Decitre Fund, committed against the isolation of the elderly, launched the initiative Read and smile to facilitate access to books for the elderly by making available digital books and e-readers. Ten establishments are concerned throughout France.
An experiment was conducted in the waiting rooms of the maternal and child protection centres with the agency When the books connect. A new site includes resources for professionals such as a series of podcasts, an evolving bibliography and an online photography exhibition.
A call for donations for inclusion actions through reading
In France, nearly 13 million people also lack access to reading because of exclusion, disability, illiteracy or dyslexia. In November 2021, the Prime Minister awarded the 2021-2022 Great National Cause label to the Reading Alliance, a collective of 70 structures of the cultural, social, educational field and the fight against poverty.
This label encourages volunteerism and encourages donations for social inclusion actions through reading to carry out several projects such as a library for disabled people prevented from reading by the association Valentin Haüy that accompanies people who are blind or partially sighted, the action Globe readers People and culture, the book club, the Coup de pouce association’s writing, or the creation of reading spaces for young people with disabilities by the association Signes de sens and the organization of readings for hospitalized or disabled children by the association L.I.R.E. which fights for the prevention of illiteracy and illiteracy among adolescents by Reading youth. Finally Words and Wonders will equip 300 volunteers to act against illiteracy.
Finally, in partnership with the Centre de promotion du livre et de la presse jeunesse (CPLJ), an experimental robot for children with autism spectrum disorders is being tested.
Reading as a reintegration tool for inmates and their families
In addition to the first Goncourt award for inmates, awarded on December 15, the CNL highlights the projects supported by the association Read to get out who acts with the detained parent. Libraries are installed in the family reception area, with mediation actions with the accompanying parent and his child.
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