The event will be held in Italian at H18:00 in Rome and online.
Register to attend in Rome here.
Register on Zoom here.

Pronto? Chi legge?
Bibliocabine e altri luoghi di bookcrossing

Istituto Svizzero proposes a roundtable examining the spontaneous and little studied phenomenon of library exchanges.
The world of libraries is one of the most consolidated sectors among the cultural activities of a country. According to data from the National Institute of Statistics (ISTAT) in Italy there are 7’425 active libraries, public and private, which hold a heritage of 268 million documents such as monographs, printed works, audiovisual, manuscripts and periodicals (reference year 2019). In Switzerland, in 2020, the Federal Statistical Office surveyed 1,499 institutional entities open to the public that hold 67 million printed books.

Despite the presence of a capillary offer on the territory, in recent years there has been a significant development of a parallel network, spontaneous, in some ways pleasantly chaotic and little studied. This dynamic is often referred to as book-crossing, which includes various initiatives devoted to the free exchange of books, both incoming and outgoing: from simple shelves, boxes or small houses located in a public place, to more permanent installations, such as biblioroulotte and – the flagship of this phenomenon – bibliocabine.

The roundtable Pronto? Chi legge? will start from the disused telephone installations to offer some food for thought on the subject. The event offers an opportunity to bring together the representatives of some of these initiatives aimed at encouraging the exchange of books and, as a result, stimulating reading. A valuable moment to understand where these proposals originate, how they are realized and what positive and critical aspects can be detected.

During the event, the speakers will attempt to answer the following questions: from what needs and requirements were the installations for book exchange born? What features do the different initiatives have in common, respectively what are the main specificities? What potential is still to be developed, what are the critical issues to be addressed? What relations are there with the traditional offer of libraries and bookshops?

The event is curated by Osservatorio culturale del Cantone Ticino, Dipartimento dell’educazione, della cultura e dello sport – Divisione della cultura e degli studi universitari.

Access is allowed only to those who obtained the Reinforced Green Pass health certificate, which proves vaccination or recovery. It is mandatory to wear a Ffp2 face mask within our spaces.