Emmanuel Macron makes reading a “great national cause”

Published on : 06/17/2021 – 00:41

After violence against women and equality between women and men, reading will become the “great national cause” of 2021. The President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron will announce it during a trip, Thursday, June 17 , in the Somme and Aisne during which he will celebrate the 400th birthday of Jean de la Fontaine, one of the most studied authors in France, announced the Élysée.

Reading is one of the “bases of citizenship” because it allows “to develop the capacity for emancipation, to relate to others and to create a national community through common values”, explains the Élysée.

Initiated in the 1970s, the government label “great national cause” is awarded for one year to a campaign of public interest around a theme with, at the end of the day, media and fundraising initiatives.

A series of actions, launched from the summer, will aim to promote the learning and practice of reading at all ages. It is the National Book Center (CNL) which will be responsible for its coordination, under the aegis of the Ministries of Culture and Education, in particular with the Partir en Livre operation, which will take place from June 30 to 25. July with one objective: “to restore the desire to read”. The government also intends to strengthen its “library plan” by mobilizing 40 million euros in 2021-2022 to allow a hundred libraries to extend their opening hours.

Meetings with students and their parents

This trip to the Somme and Aisne is Emmanuel Macron’s third as part of his tour launched to “take the pulse of the country” in the midst of the Covid-19 crisis. He has already visited the Lot and last week in the Drôme, a visit disturbed by the slap given to him by a young man.

He is expected in the morning at the elementary school of Poix-de-Picardie (Somme), of which his maternal grandmother Germaine Noguès, whom he nicknamed “Manette”, was the principal for 23 years. In addition to schoolchildren, there “will meet parents of students to discuss the impact of the crisis on children,” said the Elysee.

At the beginning of the afternoon, he will join Château-Thierry, in the south of the Aisne, in the company of his wife Brigitte, a former French teacher, and the actor Fabrice Luchini. He will discuss with primary, college and high school students, around the fables of Jean de La Fontaine, born July 8, 1621 in this city.

After a probable stroll, the Head of State will end the day in Villers-Cotterêts to “take stock of the progress of the work of the castle of François Ier”, the great cultural site of his five-year term which is to host “the International City. of the French language”.

Emmanuel Macron should not come across the president of Hauts-de-France, Xavier Bertrand (ex-Les Républicains), favorites for the regional ones on June 20 and 27, and declared presidential candidate of 2022, who will be campaigning in the Oise.

With AFP