site.btaUPDATED Sofia to Host EURead Annual General Meeting June 5-6

Sofia will be hosting the EURead Annual General Meeting on June 5-6. The venue will be the European Commission premises and the Sofia City Library, EURead member Detski Knigi (Children's Books) Foundation said. The event is mottoed "Literacy across Europe: Reading Is the Key".

This is the first meeting held outside Brussels, the foundation said

Experts in literacy, reading promotion, education, book publishing and communication from 20 countries will participate.

The speakers include EURead Chair Jorg F. Maas (Germany), Co-Chair Diana Gerald (UK), Co-Chair Gerlien van Dalen (the Netherlands) and Children's Books Foundation founder and Council Chair Valentina Stoeva (Bulgaria).

The meetings will be opened by Boyko Blagoev, Head of Communication unit at the EC Representation in Bulgaria, European Parliament Vice-President Katarina Barley and Sofia Deputy Mayor Miroslav Borshosh, who is responsible for culture, education, sport and youth activities.

Dr Jorg F. Maas commented that recent studies by the OECD and research institutes show clearly that reading competencies have never been as low as they are today. More than 70 million Europeans lack these basic skills and therefore lack access to education, appropriate training and the labour market. Maas also said it is time to remind Europe's political leaders that it is impossible to have an economic and intellectual future without literacy and the promotion of reading. This year's Annual General Meeting in Sofia will be another milestone in EURead's demands for stronger political commitment, more active financial support and better literacy and education programmes, the EURead Chair said.

Valentina Stoeva from the Children's Books Foundation said its team was honoured to host a forum at this level, dedicated to literacy issues and reading promotion. "I believe the shared experience of colleagues from the EURead network will be useful to professionals involved in education, media literacy and overcoming inequalities, as well as to all who seek to implement the UN Sustainable Development Goals.