National program for reading promotion and development in Russia: Two All-Russian Conferences focused on reading promotion and development in Moscow

The Conferences “Libraries, publishing houses, book trade and Mass Media: influence on the readership” and the “National program for reading promotion and development: results and prospects” took place on November, 19 and 20 accordingly.   Both functions were organized by the Interregional Library cooperation Centre on the order of the Ministry of Culture of the Russian Federation and the Federal Agency for Print and Mass Media.

The conferences brought together the representatives of Federal Ministries and departments, the administration of the subjects of the Russian Federation, leading All-Russian and profile Mass Media, cultural, educational, scientific institutions, publishing houses, book trade organizations, political and public figures, writers and journalists.

The united program of both conferences was opened by the address of Vladimir Grigoriev, Deputy Head of the Federal Agency for Print and Mass Media of the Russian Federation, which was called “In no case to weaken the efforts on reading promotion”.

Undoubtedly, the effect of the National program for reading promotion and development, adopted in Russia in 2006, was evident very soon. It has enhanced a wave of public interest to the problems of reading, more and more publications appear in the professional and mass press, there are more special programs on TV and radio; in the streets of many cities and in transport one can see the posters, advertising poster panels, banners dedicated to the book and reading.

Special seminars carried out in order to discuss the problems, forms and methods of the National Program’s implementation became the integral part of major annual International and All-Russian Conferences. Dozens of inter-regional conferences and seminars have been carried out in the regions of Russia.

However, the results of the sociological research, carried out by Yuri Levada Analytical Center (Levada Center) on the order of the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Media in 2008, show that the reading crisis has not been overcome yet. Consequently, it is vital to increase the efforts aimed at promotion and development of reading at all levels and first and foremost it is necessary to train the competent specialists for this sphere, who possess special knowledge and skills.