Society and Reading: The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) announced the winner of the VI All-Russian Contest "The Most Reading Region"

The Russian Book Union summed up the results of the VI All-Russian Contest "The Most Reading Region". It was organized with the support of the Federal Agency for Press and Mass Media. The Republic of Sakha (Yakutia) became the winner of the contest and the "Literary Flagship of Russia"; Astrakhan Region, the Republic of Tatarstan and Saint-Petersburg are the laureates.

"The Most Reading Region" contest takes the whole year. The participating regions should present their most significant literary project of 2019-2020. Besides, the jury takes into account the most remarkable initiatives, the achievements of the authorities and cultural institutions in the development of the book and reading infrastructure and the preservation of the literary traditions of regions. Particular attention is paid to reading infrastructure statistics.

The winner is the Republic of Sakha (Yakutia), which presented the project "Everybody Read!". It was launched in 2019 by the National Library of Yakutia. The project develops a federal comprehensive reading program in the region for the next five years. In 2020, the slogan "We Read Books about the War" became the leitmotif of the project. Yakutia only held more than 15 thousand events, including online formats. Trying to get reliable information about reading and its dynamics, the region conducts scientific research and monitoring of reading in various strata of the population. By the development plan, 76% of the region's population will be involved in reading by 2024. Reading Centres will be opened in every republican district.

Astrakhan Region launched the I International Children and Youth Literary Festival (May 16-19, 2019). The Republic of Tatarstan developed the project "Letter to the Author of a Favorite Book" - a contest of letters from children and teenagers to children's writers in the region. A difficult epidemiological situation changed the format of Saint-Petersburg "Book Salon", which is one of the most ambitious book events in the country. It was held online, without losing either the variety and richness of programs or participants.

The top twenty contest finalists included: Novosibirsk Region, Moscow, Voronezh Region, Irkutsk Region, Stavropol Territory, Krasnodar Territory, Krasnoyarsk Territory, Chuvash Republic, Moscow Region, Sverdlovsk Region, Khanty-Mansi Autonomous Okrug, Vladimir Region, Penza Region, Udmurt Republic, Saratov Region, Ulyanovsk Region.

Also, this year, Ulyanovsk Region received the honorary status "The Territory of Books and Reading" for the second time. This status is given to regions that were the previous winners of the contest and three-time shortlist participants within the last five years.