Record attendance for the 4th Reading Night with 650,000 participants and over 6,000 free events worldwide

For its 4^e On Saturday, January 18, 2020, the Nuit de la lecture, held under the banner of “Shares”, confirmed its popular success, mobilizing more than 650,000 participants of all ages and bringing together more than 6,000 events in France and 30 countries around the world.

Created in 2017 by the Ministry of Culture to celebrate the pleasure of reading for one evening, the event was the occasion, for its 2020 edition, of exceptional opening night of libraries and media libraries, bookshops, archives and museums, Institut français and Alliances françaises. It has also seen the involvement of performing arts venues, as well as schools and universities, cultural and social centres and penitentiary and medico-social structures. And it allowed everyone to attend fun and demanding events, festive and free, around the shared reading and meetings of authors, throughout the French territory and in many foreign countries.

The Minister of Culture, Franck Riester, and the godmother of the Night of Reading, Zabou Breitman, have chosen to illustrate the theme of this 4^e publishing – sharing – by attending readings aloud by Small Champions of Reading at the Chartreux library in Issy-les-Moulineaux. They then went to the Société des Gens de Lettres which, in partnership with the Observatoire de Paris, had imagined an exceptional night that included the presence of many authors, as prestigious as they were accessible, gathered for an unprecedented writing marathon.

«This 4^e Night of Reading edition has kept all its promises. The growing popularity of the public is a tremendous incentive to continue our work in favour of literature and reading. I would like to warmly thank Zabou Breitman, the sponsor of this 2020 edition, who brilliantly embodied the theme of “Sharing”. I would also like to thank all those who made such a strong commitment.” Franck Riester, Minister of Culture.

Thanks to all the institutional and media partners of the event: the Association des bibliothécaires de France, the Association des bibliothécaires départementaux, the Association des directeurs des bibliothèques municipales et des groupements intercommunaux des villes de France, the Syndicat de la librairie française, the Association internationale des libraires francophones, the Société des Gens de Lettres, the Syndicat national de l'édition, UNESCO, the National Library of France, the National Book Centre, the Public Information Library, the Association of Directors and Management Staff of University and Documentation Libraries, the association Art + University + Culture, RATP, Havas Paris, Phenix Stories, Insert, France Télévisions, Radio France, France Médias Monde, TV5 Monde, L'Express, 20 minutes and Toute l'histoire.

All information about Night of Reading 2020 on: www.nuitdelalecture.fr and on social networks #NuitLecture.

Some examples of attendance figures

In all regions of France

Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes

Le Trent Media Library (Vienna, Isère, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes): 660 participants

Tréfilerie University Library (Saint-Étienne, Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes):

220 participants

Municipal Library (Le Puy-en-Velay, Haute-Loire, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes):

500 participants

Jaude Media Library (Clermont-Ferrand, Puy-de-Dôme, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes):

1000 participants

Bonlieu Media Library (Annecy, Haute-Savoie, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes): 1,920 participants

Burgundy-Franche-Comté

Henri Vincenot multimedia library (Talant, Côte-d'Or, Burgundy-Franche-Comté):

400 participants

Pierre Bayle Media Library (Besançon, Doubs, Burgundy-Franche-Comté): 450 participants

Auxelles-Haut (Auxelles-Haut, Territoire de Belfort, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté): 175 participants

Jean-Christophe Rufin Media Library (Sens, Yonne, Bourgogne-Franche-Comté):

150 participants

Brittany

Médiahèque La Grande Passerelle (Saint-Malo, Ille-et-Vilaine, Brittany): 270 participants

Auray Media Library (Auray, Morbihan, Brittany): 800 participants

Media library Anjela Duval (Plougastel, Finistère, Brittany): 618 participants

Alain Gérard Media Library (Quimper, Finistère, Brittany): 410 participants

François Mitterrand Media Library - Les Capucins (Brest, Finistère, Brittany):

250 participants

Centre-Val de Loire

Bourges Media Library (Bourges, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire): 380 participants

Saint-Doulchard Media Library (Saint-Doulchard, Cher, Centre-Val de Loire):

375 participants

Médiathèque l'Apostrophe (Chartres, Eure-et-Loir, Centre-Val de Loire): 1400 participants

Olivet Library (Olivet, Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire): 500 participants

Orléans Media Library (Orléans, Loiret, Centre-Val de Loire): 600 participants

Corsican

Pietrosella Media Library (Pietrosella, South Corsica, Corsica): 220 participants

Great East

Jacques Chirac Media Library (Troyes, Aube, Grand Est): 800 participants

Former College Media Library (Sézanne, Marne, Grand Est): 750 participants

Toul Media Library (Toul, Meurthe-et-Moselle, Grand Est): 550 participants

Riedisheim Public Library (Riedisheim, Haut-Rhin, Grand Est):

400 participants

Épinal intercommunale multimedia library (Épinal, Vosges, Grand Est):

1,232 participants

Hauts-de-France

Jean Macé Media Library (Château-Thierry, Aisne, Hauts-de-France): 500 participants

Bailleul Media Library (Bailleul, Nord, Hauts-de-France): 570 participants

La Grand-Plage Media Library (Roubaix, Nord, Hauts-de-France): 515 participants Antoine Chanut Media Library (Creil, Oise, Hauts-de-France): 500 participants

Bibliothèque d'agglomération du pays de Saint-Omer (Saint-Omer, Pas-de-Calais, Hauts-de-France): 1,482 participants

Île-de-France

Bibliocité – City of Paris Library Network (Paris, Île-de-France):

1,580 participants

Société des Gens de Lettres (Paris, Île-de-France): 350 participants

UNESCO (Paris, Île-de-France): 600 participants

Astrolabe Media Library (Melun, Seine-et-Marne, Île-de-France): 250 participants

Jardin des Arts Media Library (Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Yvelines, Île-de-France):

950 participants

La Buanderie Media Library (Clamart, Hauts-de-Seine, Île-de-France): 350 participants

Georges Wolinski Media Library (Noisy-le-Grand, Seine-Saint-Denis, Île-de-France):

400 participants

Eclipse Media Library (Cormeilles-en-Parisis, Val-d'Oise, Île-de-France): 500 participants

Normandy

Bibliothèque Alexis de Tocqueville (Caen, Calvados, Normandy): 2,500 participants

Trouville-sur-mer Library (Trouville-sur-Mer, Calvados, Normandy):

280 participants

Bibliothèque-Médiathèque Rolland-Plaisance (Évreux, Eure, Normandy): 1,420 participants

Vernon Media Library (Vernon, Eure, Normandy): 550 participants

Jacques Prévert Library (Cherbourg-en-Cotentin, Manche, Normandy):

2,300 participants

Nouvelle-Aquitaine

Librairie Mollat (Bordeaux, Gironde, Nouvelle-Aquitaine): 120 participants

André Labarrère Media Library (Pau, Pyrénées-Atlantiques, Nouvelle-Aquitaine):

370 participants

François-Mitterrand Media Library (Poitiers, Vienna, New Aquitaine): 400 participants

Francophone multimedia library (Limoges, Haute-Vienne, Nouvelle-Aquitaine):

3000 participants

Occitania

Henri Molina White Pavilion Media Library (Colomiers, Haute-Garonne, Occitanie):

550 participants

François Mitterrand Media Library (Sète, Hérault, Occitanie): 270 participants

Montaigne Media Library (Frontignan, Hérault, Occitanie): 1,258 participants

Pierrevives Media Library (Montpellier, Hérault, Occitanie): 620 participants

Grand Cahors Media Library (Cahors, Lot, Occitanie): 650 participants

Pays de la Loire

Jacques Demy Media Library (Nantes, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire): 460 participants

Pontchâteau (Pontchâteau, Loire-Atlantique, Pays de la Loire): 330 participants

Louis Aragon Media Library (Le Mans, Sarthe, Pays de la Loire): 350 participants

François Mitterrand Media Library (Digne-les-Bains, Alpes-de-haute-Provence, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): 450 participants

Provence-Alpes Côte d'Azur

Albert Camus Media Library (Antibes, Alpes-Maritimes, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur):

213 participants

Méjanes Library (Aix-en-Provence, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur):

400 participants

Bernard Monge Library (Allauch, Bouches-du-Rhône, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur):

250 participants

Chalucet Media Library (Toulon, Var, Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur): 350 participants

Overseas

Bibliothèque annexe Rivière des Galets (Le Port, La Réunion): 260 participants

Buffer Library (The Buffer, The Meeting): 200 participants

Leconte de Lisle Media Library (Saint-Paul, La Réunion): 200 participants

Schœlcher Library (Fort-de-France, Martinique): 140 participants

Abroad

Books for the Great Lakes (Bukavu, Democratic Republic of Congo):

815 participants

French Institute of Japan in Tokyo (Tokyo, Japan): 650 participants

Alliance française de Nour-Soultan (Nour-Soultan, Kazakhstan): 100 participants

Latvian National Library (Riga, Latvia): 100 participants

French Institute of Morocco - Marrakech (Marrakech, Morocco): 179 participants

In 20 libraries and bookstores in Quebec: 1,000 participants