“Today's society is experiencing transformations with a great impact on the way we access information and knowledge, how we learn, communicate and integrate socially. These transformations, related to the technological and digital revolution, are reflected in the school, which requires students to develop a set of literacies essential to learning and educational success, which include not only basic reading skills, but others, such as information, digital and media skills. The nature of these literacies, present in all areas and learning environments, makes their development a responsibility of the school and of all teachers, the school library being a privileged resource for its exercise ” (IFLA Guidelines, 2017). All partner schools experience a troubling PROBLEM: the decline in readers in their communities. This partnership of 5 countries finds in this project an opportunity and extra motivation to reverse this trend. Libraries and their teachers, bearing in mind the results of PISA 2019 studies, understand that reading competence is a condition of all knowledge and school success. Furthermore, it is not possible to be an active citizen without good reading skills, without which the integration and participation of the individual in society is compromised. It is decisively an inclusion factor. Today, new challenges are posed to reading that demand new practices, methodologies and adaptations, in order to respond to increasingly demanding readers and to accompany the technological development that shapes reading and today's society. Conscious of the role of books, and of the new media for reading libraries and reading - as well as associated literacies (media, digital and information) - the mentors of this project, constituted mostly by elements of schools linked to school libraries, intend involve their educational communities in activities dedicated to books and literacies. This project includes two teacher librarians and other teachers who work with their school libraries (about 20 teachers). This project will directly involve about 120 students aged between 12 and 15 years, as well as all students who attend school libraries and the remaining students (1500), through activities that will involve the entire educational community. We intend to develop initiatives that promote reading throughout the school, namely, among others, the daily stop to read for ten minutes. We intend to awaken students to reading through reading books that promote civic awareness and education for values, subordinated to the theme of the Holocaust, marking, in this way, in the respective schools, the 75 years of that historical event. Simultaneously with reading, we will develop other initiatives that promote information and media literacy, developing in students a desire to distinguish reliable information from false news, enabling young people to critically understand the media message, in order to contribute to the their inclusion in a society dominated by technologies and the media. We intend to encourage students to use the media and social spaces for interaction and communication in an ethical and responsible way to produce, communicate and participate civically. Slovakia, Portugal, Italy, Spain and France will use the existing teams and those that will be constituted from this project, outlining, with the support of internal and external partnerships (public libraries), a diversified reading development program, research and information, creation of e-books, podcasts, videos and book trailers using tools and digital applications. The project's coordinating teams use the following methodologies and actions: - Involvement in the project of students from other countries and with reading difficulties; - Constitution of a team that guarantees the effective development of the activity plan defined for each partner / project. - Support for literary and digital activities, reading literary works from partner countries to spread their culture, establishing comparisons, bridges and affinities, spreading this cultural diversity, promoting reading activities that enhance inclusion and multiculturalism, facilitating the inclusion of students from others countries and / or with educational needs. - Active participation in the eTwinning project. - Commitment to implementing all activities that involve the educational community. - Promotion of collaborative work that ensures the implementation of good practices in schools, ensuring their dissemination. - An increase in the number of readers in all schools. All involved libraries schools will benefit from this project in the long-term. As for us, as teachers, we are really interested in learning skills and exchanging good practices among the schools involved. To open the school and the local community to European projects built upon the experience and knowledge of other European cultures.
The Erasmus project, which took place between Slovakia, Portugal, Italy, Spain, and France, aimed to support reading and literary skills in contemporary society. Building on transformations in the way people access information and knowledge, as well as the increase in digital and media literacy, the project responded to the decline in readership in these countries and sought to reverse this situation. The project aimed to develop reading skills, information literacy, and media literacy among students aged 12 to 15, which it largely succeeded in doing. Project activities included various initiatives to promote reading, such as daily reading during a ten-minute break. Additionally, students engaged with the theme of the Holocaust through literary works and created digital content such as e-books, podcasts, videos, and book trailers. The project also promoted the development of information and media literacy to enable students to critically assess media news and distinguish reliable information from false information. It aimed to encourage young people to ethically and responsibly use media and social spaces for interaction and communication with the goal of producing, communicating, and participating in public life. The project was based on collaboration and the sharing of best practices among schools and their libraries involved in the project. The goal was to increase the number of readers in schools and promote inclusion and multiculturalism through literature and reading. One of the project's outcomes was the publication of a book in which each country contributed a part of the story to continue in the English language. The main outcomes of the project included improved reading activity among students, the development of information and media literacy, as well as cultural exchange and understanding among partners from collaborating countries. The project also contributed to supporting participating school libraries and ensuring the spread of best practices in literary and digital literacy. We expect that as a result of this project, there will be an increase in readership in schools and a strengthening of knowledge and skills in literature, information literacy, and media literacy among students. The project also contributes to opening the school to the local community towards European projects and the exchange of experiences and knowledge with other European cultures. The project's results will have a long-lasting impact and will support the development of literary skills, education, and inclusion in schools.