People read less in the south of
Italy and the islands of Sardinia and Sicily, a survey said
Friday saying there was also a lack of bookstores in those areas
of the country.
In Southern Italy and on the Islands, there are very few
readers: 62% of citizens over 15 read printed books, e-books or
listen to audiobooks, compared to 77% in the Center-North (15
percentage points less) and a national average of 72%.
Bookstores are scarce: 25% less, in relation to the population,
than in the Center-North and book sales stop at less than 20% of
the national total.
The libraries, which do exist, do not have a book collection and
adequate facilities to satisfy readers, so that loans per
inhabitant are less than a tenth of those in the Center-North.
This is the picture that emerges from the research of the
Italian Publishers Association (AIE), conducted by Pepe
Research, on the population over 15, presented at the conference
'For a Spring of Reading in the South', in Naples.
"There is a thirst for knowledge, there is a thirst for
knowledge - especially in the younger generations, in particular
in the South and the Olivetti plan intervenes precisely to
overcome the 'cultural drought' in the metropolitan suburbs, as
well as in the internal and disadvantaged areas" underlines the
Minister of Culture Alessandro Giuli, in a message read at the
opening by the president of the AIE, Innocenzo Cipolletta.
"The resources allocated - 34 million euros - are the first step
of this path that we intend to share together with the
stakeholders, first and foremost the Italian Publishers
Association, for the benefit of citizens who will have easier
access to those workshops of knowledge that are libraries and
bookstores" the minister points out.
Eight Regions: Abruzzo, Molise, Sicily, Basilicata, Calabria,
Puglia, Sardinia and Campania, were examined.
"The numbers we present are intended to be the starting point of
a constructive discussion that will lead the country to quickly
deploy all possible resources for a change of pace. The
attention to disadvantaged areas of the Olivetti Plan launched
by Minister Giuli, the restoration of the fund for extraordinary
library purchases and the fund for the opening of new
bookstores, the many initiatives of Regions and Municipalities,
of the Center for Books and Reading, the very important role of
private non-profit organizations in the area are all pieces of a
mosaic that must be structured and strengthened. The meetings
will continue in the coming months in the other Southern Regions
involved in the research" announced Cipolletta.
In the South and the Islands, where more than a third (34%) of
the Italian population lives, books sold are less than a fifth,
19%.
These numbers, however, must be correlated with those of the
bookstores present in the territory: in the Center-North there
is one bookstore for every 15,730 inhabitants, in the South and
the Islands one for every 20,880 inhabitants, with large areas
of the territory not covered.
Stationery shops and newsstands are the most used for purchasing
books: if buyers are asked to indicate where they buy books, 24%
indicate them as the channel used, 10 points more than the 14%
of the Center-North.
While independent bookstores in the South and the Islands
suffer: they are frequented by 21% of buyers, six points less
than the 27% of the Center-North.
Chain bookstores are indicated as the place of purchase by 48%
of buyers in the South and the Islands and by 44% in the
Center-North.
The library heritage is lacking (1,763 volumes compared to 3,244
in the Center-North) and for this reason loans are not made:
they are 55 per thousand inhabitants, ten times less than the
national average (511) and a small fraction of the 741 loans per
thousand inhabitants in the Center-North.
This despite the presence of the structures: in the South and
the Islands there are 11 libraries per 100 thousand inhabitants,
compared to a national average of 12, and an index of 13 in the
Center-North. Sardinia, Abruzzo and Molise, Basilicata and
Calabria, are also above the average of the Center-North.
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