Russia wants more readers

Ot mraka k svetu. Ot bitvy k knige. Ot goria k schast'iu. [Book with slogan: From darkness to light, from battle to boo...] (1917-1921)

"Discover new things!"

"Be guided by knowledge"

"Fill in the gaps!"

These are just a few of the slogans in the new advertising campaign launched by the government of Moscow to encourage and promote reading. The campaign, which is targeted at young people, also includes 100 billboards placed around the city by the Moscow Writers Union emblazoned with the words "Read Books."

Gramota - put' k kommunizmu. [Literacy is the road to communism.] (1920)

Alexander Gerasimov, spokesman for the Moscow Writers Union, says that experts are witnessing an "alarming tendency" for people to read less, especially the classics.

Though Russians are reading more of their news online, Gerasimov is concerned that they are developing "an apathy toward reading serious literature, thick books written not only by contemporaries but by classic writers as well," and that "such indifference can lead to erosion of entire cultural layers, to depletion of knowledge about literature, to the loss of national self-identification,"

Just last month, during a joint meeting of the state councils on science and culture Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said "We should encourage reading in all forms, including the latest, the most modern, as long as our young people want to read," He also admitted that his son found books less interesting than the Internet.

The campaign expects to extend to other parts of Russia next month.

From: Seattle PI