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On November 2nd, 7 000 e-book lending posters and other sources will appear all around Poland and the world. We’ll find them at bus stops, restaurants, schools, community centres and more. Read PL is one of the largest initiatives in the world that promotes reading in such a fashion, and the only such project in Poland that has taken over nearly 500 cities and towns in the country. This year’s edition will reach a record number of readers in Poland, as well as abroad. Among the bestsellers that one can borrow, we’ll find The Secret Life of Trees and Shantaram.
Read PL (www.czytajPL.pl), unique in its scope and scale, is an initiative that will expand its reach to record breaking numbers. It will take place in 30 cities as well as 450 towns where schools have joined the project. Over 7000 posters and e-lending tools will allow for the free rental of e-books and audiobooks. QR codes corresponding to 12 bestsellers, including 5 totally new publications in 2017, will give readers this access. For the first time, 10 international cities will take part in the initiative, including Barcelona, Dublin, Dunedin, Dundee, Edinburgh, Lviv, Norwich, Nottingham, Prague, Reykjavik. All this is possible thanks to one QR code and one special applications. This project is organised for the 5th time by the Krakow Festival Office, operator of the Krakow UNESCO City of Literature Programme as well as the e-book platform Woblink.com.
Among the bestsellers, everyone will find something for his/herself. For those who enjoy crime fiction, Camille Läckberg’s The Ice Princess, translated to over 40 languages in 60 countries will be available. Adventure lovers will enjoy reading Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts, which presents the legendary story of a bank robber hiding in India. Peter Wohlleben’s book Secret Life of Trees will unveil to us the incredible things that take place in forests. The Januasz Zajdel Award winner Forty and four by Krzysztof Piskorski, Archipelago City by Filip Springer, So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed by Jon Ronson and Elżbieta Cherezińska’s Crown of Blood and Snow are also among those to be found.
On the initiative of the Polish Book Institute, as many as 1000 secondary schools from all over the country have signed up to participate in a pilot campaign called “Hunt your own book” that will allow students to borrow a book during breaks between classes. Just a smartphone and the Woblink application are necessary. Pupils also will have an opportunity to take part in contests with attractive prizes. But that’s not all. In 200 restaurants, guests will be able to rent a book without leaving the table, thanks to a specially prepared menu as part of “Read PL as an appetizer”.
To get the e-books and audiobooks, you need to download Woblink from the App Store or Google Play and go to the Read PL page. Just one code is necessary. You can invite up to 5 friends to join the fun and get access to the collection. Read PL will take place from November 2 to 30. Locate where there is a poster near you using the online map: www.czytajPL.pl
List of available books [available only in Polish]:
1. Wojciech Drewniak Historia bez cenzury 2 | History uncensored 2
2. Krzysztof Piskorski Czterdzieści i cztery | Forty and four
3. Gregory David Roberts Shantaram
4. Filip Springer Miasto Archipelag. Polska mniejszych miast | Archipelago City
5. Anna Kamińska Wanda
6. Jakub Małecki Ślady | Tracks
7. Dan Ariely Szczera prawda o nieuczciwości | The (Honest) Truth About Dishonesty
8. Elżbieta Cherezińska Korona śniegu i krwi | Crown of Snow and Blood
9. Camilla Lackberg Księżniczka z lodu |The Ice Princess
10. Peter Wohlleben Sekretne życie drzew | The Secret Life of Trees
11. Jon Ronson #WstydźSię! | So You’ve Been Publicly Shamed
12. Marek Kamiński Marek i czaszka jaguara | Marek and the jaguar’s skull
Organisers of Read PL: Krakow Festival Office, Woblink
Strategic Partner: Polish Book Institute
Organisers of the initiative in schools (Hunt your own book): Polish Book Institute, Krakow Festival Office, Woblink
Publishers: Znak Horyzont, Wydawnictwo Literackie, Wydawnictwo Marginesy, Wydawnictwo Karakter, SQN, Smak Słowa, Zysk, Wydawnictwo Czarna Owca, Otwarte, Insignis Media, Znak Emotikon
Partner cities: Kraków, Poznań, Łódź, Wrocław, Gdańsk, Katowice, Lublin, Toruń, Częstochowa, Opole, Gdynia, Rzeszów
Other cities taking part: Warszawa, Białystok, Bydgoszcz, Bytom, Chorzów, Mysłowice, Rybnik, Sosnowiec, Szczecin, Tychy
UNESCO Cities of Literature participating: Barcelona, Dublin, Dundee, Dunedin, Edinburgh, Lviv, Norwich, Nottingham, Prague, Reykjavik
Co-financed by the Ministry of Culture and Cultural Heritage as part of the National Programme for the Promotion of Reading. The initiative is organised under the patronage of Ministry of National Education.