Also in 2022, Loano was awarded the status of “City that Reads,” a recognition issued by the “Center for Books and Reading” (Cepell) of the Ministry of Culture in agreement with Anci and aimed at promoting and enhancing municipalities committed to continuously carrying out public policies to encourage reading in their territory. The same recognition, which lasts two years, had already been awarded to the city of Doria since 2017.
During 2018, the Municipality of Loano presented to local cultural associations the new “Pact for Reading,” which aims to create a structured territorial network in order to “restore value to the act of reading as an essential moment for the construction of a new idea of citizenship.”.
Loano's “Covenant for Reading” involves the country's educational institutions, bookstores, the municipal retirement home, cultural and voluntary associations, social services, local publishers, private businesses, citizens and all those who share the idea that “reading, declined in all its forms, is a common good in which to invest for the cultural growth of the individual and society an extraordinary tool for innovation and economic and social development of Loano.”.
By joining the Pact, the associations had confirmed their willingness to support and participate in cultural projects promoted by the administration. Most notable among them was “LOA Reads in Every Corner,” a large review dedicated to reading that included spontaneous reading events in different parts of the city.
Affirm Loano Mayor Luca Lettieri and Culture Councillor Enrica Rocca: “To have confirmed again in this 2022 the recognition of ‘City that Reads’ rewards the work done in recent years by the administration and, above all, the constant commitment of the realities that adhere to the Covenant in promoting and encouraging reading at all ages. Appointments such as ‘Loa Legge in Ogni Angolo’ and book festivals such as ‘Culture Tuesdays’ and ‘Literary Garden’ in the summer and ‘Books Under the Tree’ during the Christmas season (and whose eleventh edition will be presented in these very days) regularly achieve considerable success with the public and are among the most anticipated events in our rich calendar of events. Meetings with authors not only help to bring leading figures from the world of culture here to town but are an excellent way of introducing the general public to the best and most recent literary productions. Added to this are the grants that the administration gives to those authors whose works contribute to the growth and spread of local culture. In short, a 360-degree commitment that confirms how Loano is truly a city that reads.”.
