Around 20% of Austrians can barely read sensibly, and almost a million can barely read a newspaper or use the internet sensibly. This is an intolerable situation for a progressive democracy. Reading is the basic requirement for education – without sufficient reading ability, all other educational policy measures and reforms will be ineffective.
The Austrian Youth Book Club is a non-profit, non-partisan association that has been promoting reading and teaching literature for 75 years. As an integral part of the Austrian educational landscape, its offerings and publications reach hundreds of thousands of children every year. The book club now lacks the necessary funding to continue its work.
Given the challenges in promoting reading, it would be a great loss if the book club had to close its doors.
Supporters of the book club present an open letter and the “Book Club Building Blocks” campaign, because the commitment to sustainable reading promotion concerns us all!
Your conversation partners:
Barbara Herzog-Punzenberger, Rector of the Vienna University of Education
Daniel Landau, education coordinator
Cornelius Obonya, actor
Gerhard Ruiss, author, IG Authors Authors
Lydia Grünzweig, Austrian Youth Book Club
Johannes Knöbl, Austrian Youth Book Club
Read? We need reading support – at the same time the book club is threatened with an end!
Datum: September 4, 2024, 10:00 a.m
Art: Pressetermine
Ort: Press club CONCORDIA, club room
Bankgasse 8
1010 Wien
Austria
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