Campaign gifting books to children sees rise of thousands

A love for books and literature starts young: in an effort to foster this passion for years to come, the Catalan government puts forth an initiative called ‘You’re 6 years old, pick a book.’ And this year, participation increased to over 35,000.

The initiative is simple: when a child turns six years old, they receive a gift card in the mail redeemable in bookshops across the country. And in 2018, the campaign saw 6,604 book titles going home to 35,146 proud new owners, representing 44.7% of the 78,638 children born in 2012.

The government valued the rise positively: “participation in the campaign grows for the third year in a row, maintaining an upwards climb since it was kicked off in 2016.” The program is put on by the department of culture, along with the collaboration of the department of education and the Bookseller’s Guild of Catalonia.

Since its beginning, the number of participating bookshops in the initiative increased from 200 to 317. Two years ago children participation sat at 31,931 (38.30% of those registered), while in 2017, the number increased to 31,657 (39.10%). Catalan is the preferred language in books chosen – representing 70.4% books. The initiative ran this year from October 15 to November 30.