What happened in 2023? The EURead network’s review

A lot has happened for EURead in 2023.

We welcomed new members Libranda (Spain), Kitabistan (Azerbaijan), the Universal Reading Foundation (Poland) and the Reading Foundation (Bulgaria) and grew to 35 member organisations from 23 countries.  You can read about their good work at our newly launched website – the launch of it was another highlight of 2023. 

A big success was our Annual General Meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria. Our AGM is still at the core of our activities as a network, helping our members to learn from each other and be inspired. New to this AGM was a press conference, which served the purpose of raising awareness about the importance of reading in Bulgaria. 

But we did not only meet at our own main event: some EURead members are active contributors to the regularly held online meetings of the Global Network for Early Years Bookgifting. Please visit their website to learn more about those online meetings. 

Our members also participated in important events across Europe: EURead members organised, moderated and/or participated in presentations and panel discussions at events like the World Literacy Summit, the Bologna Bookfair, the Day of European Authors conference, the Literacy Conference in Riga and the Frankfurter Buchmesse

EURead also signed the Ljubljana Manifesto, and was represented at the launch in Ljubljana. 

And yet we should not only look back at what EURead did as a network, but what all EURead members did and are doing in their own countries. Please stay tuned and we will keep you updated about their and our own activities.

Because 2023 made it very clear that reading promotion is essential for healthy societies, and we need to keep up the good work, both at a national and at a European level. 

Annual General Meeting 2023

On June 5th and June 6th, our Annual General Meeting will take place in Sofia, Bulgaria. Our member Detski Knigi Foundation is hosting this meeting. The venue will be the European Commission premises in Sofia.

Our member Detski Knigi Foundation is hosting this meeting. The venue will be the European Commission premises in Sofia.

Agenda: 


Monday
, June 5th

Location | European Commission Building (Sofia, 124 Georgi S. Rakovski str.)

9.30 – 10.00 Planned interviews

10.30 – 11.30 Press Conference

12.30 Registration

13.00 Welcome speeches by

Mr Boyko Blagoev, Head of Communication unit at Representation of the European Commission in Bulgaria
Mr Miroslav Borshosh, deputy-mayor of Sofia
Katarina Barley, vice-president of the European Parliament /video/

13.30 Official opening, Dr. Jörg F. Maas, Chair of EURead

13.45 Panel 1 | Moderator: Dr. Jörg F. Maas, Chair of EURead
The State of Literacy in Europe: How can we do better? (A Brief Overview)
Speaker: Marc Lambert, The Scottish Book Trust

14.30 Coffee Break

14.45 Panel 2 | Moderator: Gerlien van Dalen, Co-Chair of EURead
Open Mic #1
The German National Reading Alliance and National Reading Plan (Jörg F. Maas)
Reading owns! initiative (Lovisa Fhager Logothetis)

15.15 Global Network Inspirational update
 Chaired online by Peter Jenkins, Book Trust (UK)

16.15 Panel 3 | Moderator: Elaina Ryan

Open Mic #2

Pilot reading promotion programme in 10 primary healthcare centers of Attica region (Ava Chalkiadaki)

16.30 EURead Membership Welcome certificates

17.00 End of day one

19.30 Dinner
Dinner speech by Manol Peykov – translator, publisher, member of Parliament and Man of The Year 2023

Tuesday, June 6th

Location | European Commission Building (Sofia, 124 Georgi S. Rakovski str.)

9.00 General Assembly: Legal Matters and Finances

10.00 Panel 4 | Moderator: Diana Gerald, Co-Chair EURead

Open Mic #3

Introducing the Austrian “Was steht da?” (Laura Albers)

10.15 Coffee Break

10.30 Insights about the state of literacy and reading in Bulgaria: preparation for implementing
the Read-Aloud Monitor

Speaker: Valentina Stoeva, Children’s Books Foundation (Bulgaria)

11.15 Panel 5 | Moderator: Emmi Jäkkö
Open Mic #4

How to promote reading with teenagers and young adults (Anne Bergman-Tahon)

Men’s & boy’s reading – problems and approaches to dealing with low readership rates among these groups (Marcin Skrabka)

11.30 Update on the new website implementation / Discussing common network communication strategies

Speakers: Daan Beeke and Marc Lambert (website); Emmi Jäkkö (communication)

12.30 Lunch (Ugo Pizza, 2 Han Krum str.)

Location | Sofia City Library – American Corner 4A, Petko Slaveykov square, fl. 1

13.30 Panel 6 | Moderator: Dr. Jörg F. Maas, Chair of EURead
Reviving Europe Reads

Speakers: Daan Beeke, Valentina Stoeva

14.15 Funding from EU / EU projects

Representatives from Creative Europe Desk

15.00 Where to next? Feedback from the AGM in Sofia

15.30 Closing of the AGM

16.00 End of day two

Full agenda: EURead_AGM2023_agenda

Contact: daan.beeke@euread.com