On 28 and 29 June in the Sala Ipogea of the Palazzo dell’Emiciclo dell’Aquila the 2024 edition of the General States of the Pacts for Reading will be held, the CEPELL (Centre for books and reading) event dedicated to the network of the Pacts for reading.
L’Aquila – The States General of the Pacts for Reading return on 28 and 29 June and for the 2024 edition the event will be hosted at the prestigious venue of the Palazzo dell’Emiciclo in The Eagle. This is the fourth edition of the event that the CEPELL (Centre for books and reading) dedicates to public reflection on issues related to the planning of public policies to support culture and reading. The Reading Pacts are a real contract for the promotion and support of reading in which the public body, such as the Municipality or the Unions of Municipalities or the Region, is the leader of the local Pact and implements and coordinates the interventions to promote reading by actively involving public and/or private entities: libraries, schools, associations, bookshops, publishing houses, foundations, hospitals, consultancies, reading groups, cultural institutes, third sector bodies and others. The Agreements are registered by the Book Center in a dedicated database: in Italy there are currently 738, with 22 Abruzzo municipalities involved, a number certainly destined to grow, without counting the 19 regional entities that have obtained the qualification of “City that reads“.
After the editions which have involved, starting from 2021, the cities of Taormina, Assisi and Trapani, now it is the turn of Abruzzo, with L’Aquila in the new role of Capital of Culture 2026. Also the Municipality of L’Aquila has adopted, through specific initiatives, a vision of culture as a primary resource to broaden the base of regular readers, to bring reading to those who have stopped cultivating it, to contribute to the education of boys and girls, of new citizens, addressing pay particular attention to areas where there is a low level of cultural participation and help those in difficulty: reading in prisons, hospitals, reception centres, retirement homes. There are more than twenty entities present in the city that have joined the municipal pact, just to name a few: the Cinematographic Institute of L’Aquila “La Lanterna Magica”, the Teatro Stabile d’Abruzzo, the MAXXI Foundation – Museum of the Arts of the XXI century and the CAI – L’Aquila Section.
General States of the Pacts for Reading 2024 – First day
The work of the States General will begin on Friday 28 June at 3.00 pm in the Sala Ipogea of the Palazzo dell’Emiciclo with institutional greetings. In addition to the president of CEPELL Adriano Monti Buzzetti, the general director of MiC Libraries and Copyright, Paola Passarelli, the mayor of L’Aquila Pierluigi Biondi and, followed by Gianguido D’Alberto, president of Anci Abruzzo, Lorenzo Sospiri, president of the Abruzzo Regional Council, and Marco Marsilio, president of the Abruzzo Region. Concludes the Minister of Culture Gennaro Sangiuliano. Afterwards, the director of the Center for Books and Reading Luciano Lanna introduces the proceedings.
At 4.00 pm the round table entitled “The Pacts for Reading: from local network to regional network“, moderated by Vincenzo Santoro (Anci), with the participation of Roberto Santangelo (Culture Councilor of the Abruzzo Region), Simona Renata Baldassarre (Culture Councilor of the Lazio Region), Dimitri Bosi (Abruzzo Region – Cultural Heritage and Activities Service Pacts for Reading Teramo) , Ester Di Cino (Director of Culture of the Abruzzo Region), Elena Mengotti (councilor of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region), Aldo Patruno and Paolo Ponzio (Puglia Region), Chiara Biondi (councillor of the Marche Region), representative of the Municipality of Pescara.
At 5.30pm it is the turn of the panel Local authorities, readers, bookshops and libraries in the economy of culture, moderated by Adriano Monti Buzzetti, with interventions by Paolo Ambrosini (ALI), Laura Ballestra (AIB), Carolina Botti (Ales) , Flavia Cristiano (Ibby), Umberto Croppi (Federculture), Fabio Del Giudice (AIE), Francesco Marcolini (Lazioinnova). The first day will end at 7.00 pm with the reading “Reading is like bread: terrestrial and celestial nourishment” with Giorgio Colangeli and Lucilio Santoni.
Second day
The works on Saturday 29 June will open at 10.00 with the event “Towards L’Aquila Capital of Culture 2026: presentation of the new issue of Città che legge“. Moderated by Luciano Lanna, speakers include Roberto Alfatti Appetiti (journalist and essayist), Pierfranco Bruni (writer, president of the Italian Capital of Books 2024 Commission), Nicola Genga (editor-in-chief of the magazine). Concludes Pierluigi Biondi (Mayor of L’Aquila).
At 10.45 the panel “Promotion of reading: the virtuous network of realities active in Abruzzo“, with interventions by Dacia Maraini (writer), Paolo De Cesare (vice mayor of Chieti), Antonio Filipponi (Teramo culture councilor) and Giuseppe Vitale (municipal councilor of Pescasseroli). Also participating are Silvia Arcano (Organizing Committee of the Benedetto Croce National Prize), Pasquale D’Alberto (Coordinator of the Benedetto Croce National Prize), Vincenzo D’Aquino (Director of the Fla), Stanislao de Marsanich (National President of the Literary Parks), Giovanna Di Lello (Director of the John Fante Festival), Michele La Cesa (Coordinator Pescasseroli Città che legge), Andrea Lombardinilo (Professor University of Chieti), Carla Tiboni (President of the Flaiano International Awards), Mirko Zauri (President of the Silone Award) . On Saturday afternoon, at 3 pm, the last panel “Good practices and projects for reading: a national network to be strengthened“, with the conclusions of the event, at 5.30 pm, entrusted to the president of the Center Adriano Monti Buzzetti.
