“GOVERNMENTS LOVE BOOKS” PROJECT REPORTS

“Governments love books (electronic books, too)” is an activity carried out jointly by the Council of Europe, UNESCO and the Borsenverein des Deutschen Buchhandels (German Publishers’ Association). It consists of reviews of national book policies in European countries, especially in Central in Eastern Europe.

The reviews make proposals to politicians and policy makers for the implementation of “sound” policies for the book trade and for libraries. Invited consultants, in collaboration carry out these studies with local professionals and policy makers.

Their involvement means that the findings are automatically endorsed at the highest level, which significantly increases the influence, the reviews have.

The project began with reviews in Romania and Bulgaria in 1998. So far also Albania, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Moldova have been included.

Mr. Giuseppe Vitiello of the Council of Europe is coordinating the project.