Center for the Book Partnership

ESSI aims to forge mutually beneficial, collaborative links between research entities.

US Library of Congress; Center for the Book

READING PROMOTION PARTNERSHIP

Dr. Boris Porkovich, Vice-President of ESSI with responsibility for academic programming and research design, institutional partnerships, and outreach projects, has recently achieved recognition of his project proposal that ESSI become a Center for the Book Reading Promotion Partner by the US Library of Congress Center for the Book.

In order to fulfil its mandate, ESSI seeks to unlock the unrealized potential in the European Small States by promoting literacy, books, and reading in all ways; in pragmatic terms through book distribution and donation, but also through the advanced study of book and library history, storytelling, and writers and writing.

As a Center for the Book Reading Partner, ESSI will further its commitment to promoting books, reading, literacy, and libraries in European small states; and around the world. This would include co-sponsoring projects with partner organizations at the local, national, regional, and global levels.

Clearly, partnering with the Center for the Book offers great possibilities for sharing and collaboration among such entities that would certainly maximize the efforts of all concerned.

ESSI is excited by the opportunity to explore further partnerships not only with the Center, but with its affiliates across the United States and with current national and international reading promotion partners.

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INTERNATIONAL SUMMIT OF THE BOOK

Books Are Imperative to an Informed Democracy; Bibliotheca Alexandrina, Alexandria, Egypt To Host 2015 Summit

The US Library of Congress hosted the first International Summit of the Book 2012, a gathering of leaders in academia, libraries, culture and technology to debate and discuss the powerful and crucial form of information transmittal: the book.

“Books in their many forms are nothing short of imperative to an informed democracy,” said James H. Billington, Librarian of Congress. “The ability to read is the key to a good life and a functioning society. But the book itself – whether on paper or an electronic format – is unique in its power: this long-form presentation of a concept or story is the key to converting mere information into knowledge.”

“The world’s national research libraries collect, preserve and ensure access to knowledge and creativity,” Billington said. “Through the ongoing International Summit on the Book, these institutions will further the expansion of wisdom and human understanding.”

The 4th International Summit of the Book will be held at the Bibliotheca Alexandrina in Alexandria, Egypt in 2015.

Case in Point: "How Peoples Read; Print and the Inheritance of Culture"

ESSI was formed with a mandate to advance research that concerns the
small states of Europe. As this research is not confined to any one subject area;
and addresses a broad range of cultural, economic, political, and social issues, ESSI seeks to encourage European small states to identify and communicate the salient – and often complex – features of their national identities in a positive, productive, and collaborative way.

To achieve this aim, ESSI supports these countries in tracing the different journeys they have taken in arriving at an affirmation of similar and enduring human values,and emphasizes the rich and diverse modes of expression relating to this path.

Books produced by the citizens of these states – and the libraries built to house them – are key repositories of the knowledge and experience that underpin and nourish these cultures, and so influence their development in the above context.

One such example of this activity is a research project currently hosted and organized by ESSI entitled “How Peoples Read; Print and the Inheritance of Culture.” This initiative examines the role of reading, the book, and the library in European small states; and the ways in which producing and reading all types of printed matter aid in creating a defined cultural legacy in these countries. The project presently involves a consortium that is collectively studying the topic. It is hoped that the final results of this work will reinforce the importance of reading in preserving cultures and communicating their uniqueness, and encourage individuals to discover their heritage through encounters with the written word.

“Education brings sustainability to all the development goals, and literacy is the foundation of all learning. It provides individuals with the skills to understand the world and shape it, to participate in democratic processes and have a voice, and also to strengthen their cultural identity.”

Irina BokovaUNESCO Director General

ABOUT THE CENTER FOR THE BOOK

The Center for the Book in the US Library of Congress was established to promote books, reading, literacy and libraries, as well as the scholarly study of books. Since its founding, the Center has established affiliate centers in the 50 united states, the District of Columbia, and the U.S. Virgin Islands. The Center’s mission is carried out internationally through its overseas affiliates. More than 80 organizations are Center for the Book Reading Promotion Partners both in the United States and abroad.

The Center for the Book’s Reading Promotion Partners network began in 1987. Now numbering more than 100, the partners are national or international organizations that promote books, reading, literacy or libraries and are interested in cosponsoring promotion projects with the Center for the Book and other organizations.

The reading and literacy promotion activities of the center’s organizational partners vary in accordance with each group’s overall purpose, but each has developed a cooperative relationship with the Center for the Book and its program of reading promotion themes and projects.

Partners are invited to the Library of Congress once a year for a reading promotion partners’ “Idea Exchange Day,” where good ideas for promoting books, reading, literacy and libraries are shared, new projects are introduced, and new partnerships are formed.

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