The book-loving citizens that supported Dostoevsky and Tolstoy have developed a reading problem, and there’s a new campaign in Moscow to address it.
According to a spokesman for the Moscow Writers Union, “Russians read newspapers and news on the Internet, but apparently have an apathy toward reading serious literature, thick books written not only by contemporaries but by classic writers as well.”
The campaign, sponsored by the MWU, placed 100 pro-literacy billboards across Moscow. The Seattle Post Intelligencer Book Patrol blog has a few examples of the slogans: “Discover new things!” “Be guided by knowledge!,” and “Fill in the gaps!”
We think there’s nothing better than a good reading campaign. There have been several in the U.S. in the last few years, including this great television ad from the Literacy Foundation (screenshot pictured, via), and this one sponsored in part by the NBA. [via]