Reading Region: Effective Solutions in Promotion of Books and Reading

The article presents the review of speeches at the V International Book Forum “Reading Region: Dialogue with book”, held on September 16—17, 2022 in Novosibirsk as part of the International Festival “Book Siberia”. Using the method of thematic analysis, the authors identified three trends on promotion of reading by all actors of the book industry: writers, book publishers, libraries and the state. The first trend is characterized by participation in socio-cultural projects of state structures and the Russian Book Union. The second is related to the understanding of modern authors of their role, their participation in the literary process and regional book publishing. The book space in the speakers' speeches was considered as an intellectual partner of the state in the socio-cultural development of the regions. The third trend is formed under the influence of libraries, which, responding to the challenges of the present time, offer the traditional forms of work (book exhibitions, festivals, fairs, book presentations, meetings with writers, club associations, creative competitions) and innovative forms (online initiatives, reading aloud campaigns, local history electronic resources, large-scale projects with partnership interaction of various organizations) for user involvement. The paper presents the domestic and foreign experience of national, regional, as well as scientific and technical libraries. The authors formulate the problems of modern book infrastructure and make suggestion on how to overcome them. The authors believe that in order to effectively develop the entire infrastructure related to the promotion of reading, there should be conducted support to writers, publishers, bookselling networks and libraries. It is necessary to strengthen the partnership between the state, society and business in all areas of the book industry. The review can be useful for both practitioners of book industry and librarianship and for theorists of humanitarian knowledge.