Minister in Ivrea supports Manifesto for the future of books
(ANSA) – IVREA (TURIN), MARCH 26 – Aid for new booksellers and tax relief for bookshops in properties owned by municipalities and other local entities. These are the legislative instruments under study, explained the Minister of Culture, Gennaro Sanguliano, today in Ivrea for the presentation of the ‘Manifesto for the future of the book’ which closed the year as ‘Book Capital’ of the Piedmontese city which was cradle of Olivetti.
“We must greatly strengthen the value of the book, it is a spiritual and existential dimension. The book was the memory that culture and human thought transmitted to us.
We have to regrow the number of readers, we have a moral and social duty, I would say almost constitutional, to encourage reading. For this – Sangiuliano said – we are trying to draft a system law on the book”.
Among the measures under study “a fair sustainable fee for public bodies that own properties with bookshops. My heart aches when I pass through the historic centers of Italian cities and see successful designer shops where there used to be bookshops”. Another point under study is support, “on the model of what was done for Impresa Donna, for those who intend to open bookshops because booksellers perform a social function”.
As for the Manifesto for the future of books, “sometimes culture draws impetus from the manifestos and I am committed to promoting it, in the name of bibliodiversity because no culture should be denied and everyone must be free to express their opinions. And it’s nice – added Sangiuliano – that the manifesto speaks of meekness, of the possibility of dealing with others” (ANSA).
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