European Authors Day Strengthens ‘Read. For Real!’ Movement to Celebrate Literacy, Creativity, and Cultural Connection
While the annual celebration takes place from 11 November to 12 December across all Creative Europe countries, this year’s focus underscores the profound societal implications of declining literacy. Across Europe, 73 million adults cannot read and write properly, limiting access to employment, innovation, and civic participation. In four out of ten families, parents do not read to their children, widening educational inequalities from the earliest years. According to PIRLS, one in four primary school children leaves school without adequate reading competence, and PISA data shows that 22% of teenage students lack sufficient reading skills to fully participate in modern society.
These figures signal what EURead describes as a “literacy emergency” - one that threatens Europe’s competitiveness, cultural vitality, and democratic resilience. European Authors Day - Read. For Real! responds by mobilizing institutions, communities, and citizens to place reading back at the center of European public life. The initiative highlights reading as a democratic tool, a cultural bridge, and a foundation for critical thinking in the age of artificial intelligence.
“Reading is the invisible infrastructure of Europe’s competitiveness and democracy,” says Valentina Stoeva, Chair of EURead. “It shapes critical thinking, empathy, and creativity, which are the very skills we need in the age of AI. European Authors Day – Read. For Real! reminds us that reading is not a luxury, but a shared responsibility and the foundation of our common future.”
Events across Europe include author talks, cross-border literary tours, school programmes, and community-led reading activities designed to reconnect readers with European authors, illustrators, and translators. Schools, libraries, municipalities, NGOs, and companies are invited to participate by hosting local events or joining public ones.
As a consortium partner, EURead continues to advocate for literacy as Europe’s “hidden infrastructure,” essential for innovation, sustainability, and social cohesion. Representing 39 member organisations across 28 countries, EURead works to ensure that reading remains a social priority and a driver of Europe’s long-term development.
“We cannot have innovation without imagination, nor democracy without readers,” says Elaina Ryan, board member of EURead and CEO of Children’s Books Ireland. “Reading is where Europe’s strength begins.”
Consortium partners, including the Federation of European Publishers, stress the shared responsibility of the literary ecosystem. “Authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, teachers, activists, institutions – we are all in this together if we want our continent to remain at the forefront,” states Anne Bergman-Tahon, Director of the Federation.
For free resources including posters, lesson plans, and digital materials, please go to www.readforreal.eu. To learn more about EURead, visit www.euread.com.
About EURead
EURead is a European network uniting 39 reading promotion organisations from 28 countries, working to make literacy and reading culture accessible to everyone. The network connects foundations, libraries, national reading programmes, and cultural institutions that share a mission to promote reading as both a fundamental skill and a lifelong source of inspiration.
By bridging local initiatives with European cultural and educational policy, EURead strengthens collaboration, research, and advocacy for literacy as a foundation of democracy, inclusion, and innovation. Its recent report, Reading – The Hidden Infrastructure of European Competitiveness, underscores how literacy drives creativity, employability, and social cohesion in Europe’s knowledge-based economy.
EURead is a consortium partner in the Creative Europe–co-funded European Authors Day – Read. For Real! initiative, led by the Universal Reading Foundation (Poland) alongside the National Library of Poland, Stiftung Lesen (Germany), Ciclic (France), Chetene (Bulgaria), and the Federation of European Publishers. Together, these organisations champion reading as a shared European value that connects people, cultures, and ideas across borders.
Instagram: @read.forreal | Facebook: READ. for Real | LinkedIn: EURead
Communications Team
EURead
communication@euread.com
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