Commonwealth Reading Assembly kicks off in Moscow

Moscow Polytechnic University hosts the Commonwealth Reading Assembly 2019 within the Year of the Book in the CIS.

The event brings together about 400 delegates from 17 CIS and Baltic states, including publishers, booksellers, writers, librarians, scientists, teachers, representatives of public authorities, civil society associations and international organizations, as well as ordinary readers, in order to share the experience in development of the book industry and discuss the measures to promote reading and literature.

Speaker of the Federation Council of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation Valentina Matvienko, IPA CIS Council Chairperson conveyed her greetings to the participants. She commended the role of the event in the cultural life of the participating countries and welcomed the efforts of the organizers to promote reading and improve the book industry.

Secretary General – Head of the IPA CIS Council Secretariat Dmitriy Kobitskiy stressed in his welcome address the importance of the reading tradition as the condition for preserving cultural community across the Commonwealth.

President of the Russian Book Union Sergey Stepashin, Director of the Department of Humanitarian Cooperation, General Political and Social Problems of the CIS Executive Committee Alexey Sazonov, Head of the Federal Agency on Press and Mass Communications Mikhail Seslavinskiy, Co-President of the European and International Booksellers Federation Fabian Paagman, writer, First Deputy President of the Bureau of the Writers Union of Russia, Vice-Chairman of the Committee of the State Duma of the Federal Assembly of the Russian Federation on Culture Sergey Shargunov, as well of the representatives of the leading universities of the Russian Federation, scientists and experts took part in the plenary session. Head of the Development Department of the State Museum of Leo Tolstoy, journalist, TV presenter Fekla Tolstaya moderated the plenary session.

The work of the plenary session was followed by the discussions in sections and concluded with the adoption of the resolution and the signature of the Cooperation Agreement between the Writers Union of Russia and the Writers Union of Kazakhstan.