"Reading hard books in hard times is truly important". Readable Manifesto from Ljubljana

Recent studies indicate a decline in key competences for reading at a higher level, specified as critical and conscious reading or reading long text forms. societies are presently facing fundamental changes due to the fact that digital technologies are constantly changing the way we live. The social and cultural impact of the digital environment on reading has negative effects. However, many of our key skills depend on reading abilities. For these reasons, the global community of writers, bookmakers, public officials and book lovers took the initiative to advance reading.

Readable Manifesto from Ljubljana calls for renewed consideration of the importance of the alleged higher level of reading in the digital age. Conscious citizens should be able to separate crucial sources from invalid ones and adapt reading behaviour to different contexts. Reflection, analytical and critical reasoning or the ability to specify oneself in society are crucial for the improvement of both individual and social. Margaret Eleanor Atwood, Canadian writer, recipient of many literary awards, saidthat “critical reasoning teaches us how to ... make complex decisions” and that “insight reading is crucial for the endurance of democracy”. How can we reverse the wave of falling literacy so that as citizens we can participate in a democratic society?

The manifesto was presented at the Frankfurt Book Fair (Frankfurter Buchmesse) in 2024 by Miha Kovača, Slovenia’s chief curator. Honorary guest and publishing prof. at the University of Ljubljana opened the ceremony with the words "Reading hard books in hard times is truly important". During the speech, Juergen Boos, president and CEO of Frankfurter Buchmesse, saidthat the ability to reflect and specify oneself in society is closely linked to the ability to read. The Manifesto was developed by Kovač in collaboration with André Schüller-Zwieerlein of the University of Ratizbon, Anne Mangen of the University of Stavanger, Norway and Adrian van der Weel of the University of Leiden. The initiative is supported by institutions specified as the global Publishers Association, the global association of writers PEN global and the German Academy for Language and Literature. Claudia Roth, German national Government's Commissioner for Culture and Media, signed a manifesto on behalf of her cabinet and declared Germany's support for the initiative at European Union level. During her speech at the inauguration of the book fair, she stressed that "reading is simply a prerequisite for being a Democrat".

The importance of literacy

Modern writing societies have emerged as a consequence of a long cultural evolution in which reading and writing has always been a key factor. How people function and make in today's society is determined by their level of literacy. This ability besides facilitates the exchange of complex judgments and the designation of human emotions. Since they form the basis for learning, they are considered to be skills needed throughout human life. In addition, reading educates discipline, attention and cognitive patience. Reading is the most crucial and powerful tool for shaping the reasoning we have.

Just as the individual improvement and well-being of the individual depends on good literacy, so the societies depend on them in terms of economical development, social and political participation, and thus democracy.

This fundamental cultural and social function which reading does not always take place and is sufficiently appreciated in the modern world. Reading is frequently conceptually flattened and simplified. It means only basic decoding skills, but ignores any very complex explanation interaction with the text. The improvement of digital technologies has generated deep concerns about the failure of cognitive and cultural abilities. There is simply a increasing sense that current educational standards do not meet the expectations and challenges of the modern world. alternatively of expanding our competences, they limit them.

What is higher-level reading?

This word defines advanced literacy and literacy practices. The full spectrum of reading practices of the higher level is distinguished. This applies not only to what we read, but besides to the way we read, our habits and skills that affect each other. The act of reading goes beyond just extracting information and basic decoding and knowing skills. Reading at a higher level is metaphoric and includes a conscious choice of texts, reading strategies, informed adaptation of reading behaviours and, above all, authoreflexion on the subject's own understanding.

Among the almost infinite number of reading modes stands out, for example, "critical reading". It is the basis of political participation and the basis of a unchangeable society. It allows to see disinformation and political and ideological prejudice and manipulation. During critical reading, we pay attention to logic, examine conclusions and analogies, and analyse sources of information.

"Immersive reading" is simply a reading of an highly engaging reading that makes us forget about the full world. It is not only an component of recreation, but besides requires constant attention and advanced concentration. They are considered an antidote for multitasking in today's social media world.

The word "reading persistent" refers to 2 types of perseverance. In the case of reading long and hard texts, it means being able to track a single text throughout its complexity. Reading online besides requires perseverance to remember your goal in a multimodal and hypertext environment with many distraction factors. In our goal-oriented era, defined as efficiency and associated with the regular search for information, “non-strategic reading” plays a peculiar role. It goes beyond an instrumental approach to reading and beyond reading for pleasance and leisure. Non-strategic reading is simply a central part of individual development, allowing for fresh discoveries and expanding horizons.

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Why is reading at a higher level important?

It has been shown that reading activities at a higher level, far beyond the specified extraction of information, improve and strengthen the improvement of linguistic competences, empathy, social competences and the adoption of different perspectives. Reading on a higher level, going beyond decoding simple texts for applicable purposes, involves focus and attention, cognitive patience (meaning concentration and discipline), as well as knowing the complex essence of humanity, hard human situations, assessment of different viewpoints.

There is simply a strong link between reading at a higher level and educational achievements, socio-economic status, welfare, social integration, reduced crime, intellectual wellness and even longevity.

But most importantly, as a form of text commitment, reading at a higher level is crucial to critical thinking.

This form of reading equips readers with the ability to test various explanation possibilities, find patterns and different language in text, detect and differentiate many meanings, subtexts, contradictions, biases and hidden ideologies, detect analogys and patterns, and draw conclusions or combine text with another cultural texts or backgrounds.

Reading the higher level is our most powerful tool of analytical and critical thinking. He practices meta-cognition and cognitive patience, expands our conceptual abilities, exercises cognitive empathy and adopting different perspectives – social skills that are essential for conscious citizens in a democratic society.

Without deep and critical commitment to the content and language of the text, we are poorly prepared to counter populist simplifications, false news and conspiracy theories, and so we are susceptible to manipulation.

This seriously threatens the public's ability to make informed decisions in democratic countries.

What happens to reading and how large Tech breaks up social control?

Despite the advanced demands of today's highly developed world, the reality is that many people present have problems acquiring even basic reading skills, and reading habits at a higher level are disappearing.

As many as a 4th of the American population do not read books, and a 3rd of the European population cannot even read on a lower level.

Meanwhile, in order to be able to negociate the complexity of the information society, reading skills at a higher level are necessary.

Several modern influences have been identified that are harmful to higher-level literacy. It is mostly known that we read not less, but surely different. The digital environment, despite its complexity and very different quality, is not conducive to training and improving literacy. The omnipresence of digital media dominated our cognitive environment. There have been many fresh reading situations, specified as tweeting, re-tweeting, reading under the influence of push news. The current reading processes are adapted to the tremendous velocity of our lives and the pressures of time. Direct access and velocity of digital media are conducive to providing information in short forms, fragmenting reading experience.

As reading increasingly moves from paper to screens, it besides enters the sphere of large Tech influence.

These are companies managing global digital media platforms. It should be borne in head that they are mainly for profit and are mostly opposed to top-down regulation. large Tech corporations are very few, and in combination with their way of operating, based on network functioning, this leads to a strong concentration of power. The lobbying activities and commercial interests of large Tech make society susceptible to failure of social, political and economical control.

Constrict of reading practices

In the digital environment, challenges to higher-level literacy practices have been identified, specified as "competition at reading".

There are many online platforms geared to attracting and maintaining users' attention as long as possible. For this purpose, the alleged "hyperpalatable intellectual stimuli" is used, thus offering attractive elements so that the reader is completely separated from reading. Even very well - spoken ones increasingly succumb to this temptation and quit long texts, alternatively staring at the flashing screen. Formats to distract our attention, specified as audiobooks, videos, streaming series, do not educate almost any of the practices included in reading the higher level.

The recognition of digitalisation with advancement in general leads to the usage of "digital solutions" in education.

Digitalisation, however, frequently puts emphasis on resource distribution and method access to information alternatively than on reading practices themselves, and in peculiar on higher literacy. Digital media is not the answer to all pedagogical problems.

Over the last 2 decades, many studies have been carried out on the impact of digital media on reading and learning processes. It has been repeatedly found that screen inferiority (the screen defect) has been affected by screen reading. Continuous literacy in digital media reduces the ability to engage in many higher-level literacy practices. On the another hand, the deficiency of higher-level literacy undermines the effectiveness of fluent reading. Screen inferiority is likely to negatively affect memory and retention. Moreover, it is not a temporary state. It includes 1 of the long-term effects of digital infrastructure on individual reading habits and social reading attitudes.

It has long been known that in the online environment uncertain quality and expanding amount of information pose major challenges for our societies. In view of the large abundance of data, an appropriate set of skills is needed for the effective usage of information. The advanced sensitivity of consumers to proposition is considered a serious problem due to low literacy. Equally crucial is the vulnerability of democracy to all kinds of influences due to deficiency of skills and higher-level literacy practices. It was digital media that promoted the departure from reliable news sources and facilitated the spread of uncontrolled claims.

Audiobooks are a peculiar case of competition for reading. due to the fact that they are called “books” and are based solely on words, text media and audio media seem closely related to many people. This in turn led to the mistaken conclusion that 1 could be replaced by another.

However, there are immense differences between these sources of information, their absorption and the skills needed to realize them. The ability to read and compose stimulates a network of neuronal activities that are not naturally connected in the human brain. Listening and reading are cognitively complete different activities. The usage of audiobooks should not so be taken uncritically in education policy as a substitute for reading, especially due to the fact that it does not exercise higher level skills.

What directions should we set for reading education in the future?

The current education policy is mostly based on monocultural, standardised investigating of basic literacy and the increasing usage of digital technologies. Reading education, evaluation, investigation and policy-making should focus more on higher reading practices in both adults and children.

We must make efforts to guarantee that certain skills and ways of reading do not become a relic of the disappearing information era. This applies in peculiar to books in a long form and a higher level of reading promoted by them. The digital planet is conducive to greater availability of texts and can contribute to expanding reading on a scale never seen before in human history, but we must remember that it besides offers many temptations to read superficially and dispersedly or not to read at all. This is increasingly threatening the higher level of reading.

Educators are increasingly focusing on multimodal media, at the expense of their deep engagement in textual information. In our day we are increasingly working under time force and focus on productivity at the expense of quality. due to this tendency to productivity, the complexity of reading is frequently seen as a problem to solve, not as a reflection of human complexity. This complexity is being overcome through simplification, and this cannot be achieved with reading, which is an activity conducive to analytical and strategical thinking.

Reading evaluation must go beyond standardized investigating and include qualitative and descriptive data to guarantee a detailed diagnosis of the state of reading at a higher level in our societies. Reading studies should be expanded to cover disciplines specified as informational behaviour studies, information skills teaching, media design, attention investigation and neuroscience.

Manifesto is besides a call to admit the importance of reading at a higher level as a capacity to form life and society. Education and the promotion of reading must go beyond teaching basic functional and information skills to school-aged children and focus on the process of individual improvement that lasts a lifetime.

Since reading is simply a substance of human social and individual well-being, it requires effective government policy.

Given the key function of reading in society, we cannot leave the future of reading in the hands of commercial interests and the volatility of technological progress. It will be essential to make concerted policies.

The Manifesto has already been signed by, among others, Ministers of Culture of Sweden, Slovakia, Lviv, Croatia, France, Olga Tokarczuk, Slavoj Žižek, Aleksander Čeferin – president of UEFA. Anyone who shares his values can sign on the call.

Because, how sang Wojciech Młynarski“If you don’t know adequate books, it comes out on your face... The unknown Oedipus – it deforms your nose. ... 2 surgeons are able to change your face, no doubt: reasoning and Reading...’.

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