Those who always carry a book in their backpack while traveling will be happy to know that in the Netherlands, there's a whole weekend where bookworms can travel for free.
A wonderful initiative sponsored by the national transport company, as part of the week dedicated to reading.
The Dutch national transport authority, the Nederlandse Spoorwegen , has in fact always been a staunch sponsor of Boekenweek , the reading week founded in 1932 with the aim of raising awareness of reading among Dutch citizens.
Dutch Book Day
For one entire weekend a year, the one that includes Book Day, you can travel across the country without spending a cent . Simply present a book to the ticket inspector when you board the train to be eligible for free travel. It doesn't matter what genre the book is, or how large it is: what matters is demonstrating a passion for reading.
The Dutch Book Week aims, as mentioned, to encourage people to turn off their smartphones and immerse themselves in paper and ink, and for this reason the program is packed with book-themed events, which have become a tradition. For example, every year a prominent Dutch author publishes a new book specifically for Book Week, which is distributed free of charge in bookstores to anyone who purchases another book from their catalog.
LIBRARY ON RAILS
In the land of tulips, however, reading-focused initiatives don't end with Book Week. NS has already hosted reading activities on its trains, mainly intercity trains, real libraries on rails, which recreate the atmosphere of reading rooms down to the smallest detail.
As in a real library, you can find rugs on the floor, table lamps, and reading tables where you can place borrowed volumes.
Each table welcomes passengers with a book already placed on it, which can be swapped with the hundreds of other books in the library car. The desks and shelves can also be used as bookcrossing points: passengers can leave their books at the train library, which will expand the library and enrich it for all those who wish to use it.
FOR MORE INFORMATION: Children's and young adult books: how a retired teacher helps children discover the joy of reading. Traveling with an Ape-library... (photos and video)
BOOKENWEEK NETHERLANDS
In the Netherlands, reading promotion policies are a fundamental part of cultural policies, and the travel-reading relationship is deeply rooted in the transport company's policies, almost inseparably linked. The concept of the train as the best place to read underpins all of NS's cultural offerings, from Book Day to the library car, inaugurated in 2016, the so-called "leescoupé," a carriage specially designed for enjoying a good book while traveling by train.
What's more, writers who wish to do so have the opportunity to present their literary works during Dutch Book Day right on board intercity trains. And what about the train staff who become bookseller for the day and offer all passengers reading recommendations?
In Holland, attention to reading and the pleasure of books has existed for some time: starting with the “Stilte coupé”, or silent carriage , where silence is observed and enforced for those who wish to travel in peace, without ringing telephones or other noises.
STORIES OF BOOKS AND LIBRARIES:
- Two sisters, one city, two independent bookstores. And Catania is reborn, starting with culture and women.
- In Idaho, a library that makes you dream: a librarian's idea to give new life to a century-old oak tree that was supposed to be cut down (photos and video)
- In Greece there is a library dedicated to migrants that travels on "four wheels" (photo)
- Old, abandoned telephone booths are transformed into small open-air libraries. Where you can exchange books at any time of day.
- Books in exchange for plastic bottles and cans: Michele, a bookseller from Polla, is offering an initiative to rekindle a love of reading and raise awareness about recycling.
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