Investments to promote reading: literary labs to be created in 25 schools in Moldovan capital

In 25 educational institutions in the municipality of Chișinău, literary labs for students – CHILL Network – will be created. They will be equipped with furniture and books. In addition, school libraries across the country will be supplied with 60,000 new books by the end of this year. The initiative was launched today in Chișinău and will be implemented with an investment of about seven million lei.

According to the Minister of Education and Research, Dan Perciun, the creation of the labs is an educational and cultural initiative aimed at making literature more attractive for students and bringing schools closer to contemporary cultural life.

“At the same time, we are providing seven million lei, of which half a million lei will go to support these school labs, and another 6.5 million lei for the purchase of book titles for all school libraries in the Republic of Moldova. We are talking about approximately 60,000 books that will reach school libraries by the end of this year,” stated Dan Perciun at a press conference.

The minister emphasized that the authorities’ objective is that, in the coming years, such literary labs be created in as many schools across the country as possible.

“Within these labs, we aim to create spaces and ensure the availability of appealing literature for middle and high school students, so that we can hold activities there with contemporary authors and activities promoting creative writing,” the head of the Education Ministry explained.

The deputy director of Mihai Eminescu Romanian Cultural Institute (ICR), co-founder of the International Festival of Literature and Translation, Narcis Afrăsinei, announced that the literary labs will be equipped with furniture units and book titles, which will be provided in stages. “We have committed to equipping this network of literary labs with a piece of furniture. Thus, we will offer a bookcase to all 25 selected educational institutions. In addition, we have identified 100 book titles that we believe should form the basis of any literary lab,” noted Narcis Afrăsinei.

The Ambassador of Austria to the Republic of Moldova, Stella Avallone, highlighted the role of books in society in the context of the ever-faster pace of digitalization.

“We will cooperate with schools in Moldova to create reading corners that will present our countries in a European spirit. We will collaborate with the Austrian school in Moldova, providing a collection of valuable novels and works by Nobel Prize winners in literature,” the ambassador specified.

The institutions that will benefit from the literary labs will be selected through a competition. Application files can be submitted starting today. The winners will be announced on April 30.