Press conference on the large-scale "Running Book" campaign was held at the Exposition

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On May 23, the ATOM Pavilion hosted a press conference dedicated to the large-scale sociocultural campaign "Running Book", which in the current season will cover more than 1200 libraries of the country from Moscow to the villages of the Republic of Adygea.

The participants of the press conference discussed the traditions of family reading, modern literature that touches on the theme of family, shared the experience of today's libraries that successfully organize work with families and promote family reading, talked about how the administrations of regional cities are included in this process, and also talked about how to support a talented child and publish one's own book.

Since 2018, "Running Book" has been curated by "Rosatom's Territory of Culture" for a reason. It was on the initiative of the librarians of the small atomic town of Lesnoy in the Sverdlovsk region that this campaign began many years ago and today covers more than 70 regions of the country, reaching as far as Baikonur. This season the event will be held on May 26 all over the country.

Oksana Konysheva, Head of Rosatom Cultural Territories: "The essence of the campaign is simple - on the All-Russian Day of Libraries, May 27 (this year on Sunday, May 26), librarians walk or run through their communities. They meet readers, ask sometimes tricky questions and for the right answer they give a book, for the wrong one - an invitation to the library. This campaign is not sponsored, not commercial. It is also held in the fall, on September 1. According to our statistics, the number of participants each season reaches 35 thousand people. This year the race is timed to coincide with the Year of the Family of Russia".

Oleg Morozov, CEO of JSC "Publishing House 'Children's Literature'": "For many years we have been reprinting all the classics for family reading - Chekhov, Bulgakov, Gogol, Pushkin - the timeless literature. It is understandable that the sales leader is Kornei Chukovsky, but among the new authors who are read by the whole family, I would like to mention, for example, the wonderful Kseniya Valakhnovich. We actively cooperate and complete almost all libraries in the country, paying special attention to the quality of each book. We get important feedback from libraries: what children are reading now, in what formats. Today, by the way, there is a great demand for books in Arabic and Chinese".

Anton Shagin, Russian theater and film actor, poet: "I started writing poetry at the Moscow Art Theater Studio School, that's how I started courting my future wife, slipping my poems under the dormitory door. Now I have several collections of works, the recent one is called 'Step Counter', which perfectly echoes the name of the 'Running Book' campaign, which I support very much. In general, I think that it is absolutely necessary and the country's libraries should unite - these unique institutions have brought up more than one generation of amazing people. It is necessary to instill in children a love of reading, because then they grow up to be people who can think independently. If there is a talented writing child in your family, the main support of their talent will be your love, even if you criticize, be loving and gentle".

Tatiana Popova, Deputy Head of Obninsk on social issues: "We are proud that this season it was Obninsk that became the capital of the spring race 'Running Book'. The city has a network of 10 libraries, including four children's libraries. We hold an annual festival 'Family of the Year', where each winner receives awards in different categories: labor dynasty, sport, creative family, and there is also the most reading family. It is a great honor to become the most reading family in the city. By holding such contests, we strive to convey the importance of the traditional family and its values".

Alexandra Tselischeva, public relations specialist of the SBIC of Moscow "Association of Cultural Centers of the Eastern Administrative District": "I can say that the modern library has problems - it is a shortage of staff, it is not easy to attract young professionals, but we are successfully working in this direction, breaking stereotypes. To attract families, we organize a lot of different events, including contests, at the same time the book and reading are primary. Recently we have launched a new project - a library in a shopping center, so we want to become even closer to families with children and a new audience".