By: José Eliseo Baicué Peña
This year it began on April 25, and will run until May 11 in Bogotá. A spectacular event created in 1988 by the Colombian Chamber of the Book in Alliance with Corferias, with the aim of promoting reading and joining the editorial industry with the reading and non -reader public.
On this occasion the main theme is The words of the bodywhich invites reflection on the benefits of the body as a temple of being, as narrative and political territory, as a culture and image at a time where society is revealed by investing time and money in body matter as structure and physical essence.
With more than 500 guests, 570 exhibitors, 2,300 activities, 22 programming rooms, 60 thousand square meters (something like 10 soccer fields) for the exhibition of books and documents, and the expectation that approximately 600 thousand people from different places on the planet arrive.
That is, it is a supremely important event for the culture and knowledge that will have 570 exhibitors and delegations from more than 30 countries, becoming an ideal scenario for the entire publishing industry.
However, and despite the entire organizational structure and intellectual quality of the fair, it is not enough to increase reading rates in our country.
When analyzing the causes of this phenomenon, it has been detected that there are several, within which three very important ones stand out: lack of a reading culture, the high cost of books and the emergence of technology with its digital platforms.
In addition, there is talk of lack of free time and accelerated changes in the daily life that the knowledge society has imposed in the field of the
Also, it is clear that reading is not considered as a common activity, it is casual, it does not coincide; It is not a daily practice. It is not configured as a habit, therefore, it occurs sporadically, being sometimes mandatory.
Given these connotations, more campaigns and actions are needed to promote reading and love for books. It is necessary to start by families, continue with school, increase in the university and propitiate environments where reading is an end and not a pretext.
Similarly, it is convenient to implement projects that tend to buy and acquisite books at low cost or loan. And, in this, the governments of the last decades have fallen short.
Welcome the Book Fair, but, not the only season where reading and buying books are promoted. A legacy has to be generated in this regard. The academy, the guilds, the large surfaces, NGOs, and the State, must create alternatives in this regard and permanently promote these initiatives.
