Andalucian readers catching up

Wednesday, 21 December 2011 12:13

Written by Editor

The number of people in Andalucia who read regularly rose 4.4 per cent this year – to just over 87 per cent – only three percentage points below the national average. Just over half of the people aged 14 and over who were questioned for the Barometer of Reading and Purchase of Books in Andalucia said they read books regularly and a similar number said they had bought at least one book in the past year. Young men aged 14 to 24 were more inclined to read on-line but less than 4 per cent of Andalucians possess a digital book reader. The head of the Junta de Andalucia’s cultural department, Paulino Plata, said the figures were satisfactory, because they showed that the region’s young people read as much as those elsewhere in Spain. He said the Junta’s second Reading Plan, to be implemented early next year, will encourage children to read as soon as they start school.
It will also provide libraries with state-of-the-art technology and encourage the holding of book fairs, among other initiatives.