116 libraries want to awaken a love of reading during the book summer

By the beginning of August, 116 public libraries in Saxony will once again be offering special books for 11 to 16-year-olds during the summer vacations. "Whether fantasy, love stories, exciting novels or non-fiction, the offer is broad and up-to-date, there is something for every taste," announced the organizers of the 13th Book Summer on Friday at the opening in Pirna. Under the motto "Hot days - cool books", children and young people can register and borrow the books free of charge.

The annual reading campaign is coordinated by the Saxony Library Association and funded by the Free State with around 130,000 euros. It enables the institutions to acquire up-to-date and new media for young people. The interactive and popular reading project is "a real alternative to smartphones", said Culture Minister Barbara Klepsch (CDU).

The aim is to awaken enjoyment and enthusiasm for reading and motivate people to do so, said library association chairwoman Aline Fiedler. Every year, hundreds of young people come to a library for the first time "and perhaps also to a book". In 2023, almost 10,000 young people took part, almost a fifth more than in the previous year - almost half of them for the first time.