Children's Book Festival and Fair – the image of a reading generation

The call to read and the statements about the importance of books have already become a refrain, while the numbers are an alarm. Statistics aside, the Children's Book Festival and Fair does not give up on its mission to bring children back to books. It is a four-day celebration, and the image given at the opening of the third edition of this event, which started on Wednesday at "Zahir Pajaziti" Square, is a generation of young people interested in books and reading.

Books and reading are considered a window to knowledge and the development of imagination. This value was promoted at the opening of the third edition of the Children's Book Festival and Fair, as a special cultural event that is taking shape in the name of dedication to books, reading, and children. 

With a rich program of cultural, educational and artistic activities, organized by the non-governmental organization "ETEA", this event opened on Wednesday in the capital and will take place for four days, until Saturday. The opening ceremony was held at noon in the amphitheater of "Zahir Pajaziti" square, while hundreds of children and young people were present, not only for the sake of the books that were exhibited at the stands of the publishing houses there, but also to create new friendships with each other.
Before the mascot party began and before the day filled with fun activities for children began, alongside creative workshops and book promotions, under the plastic tent set up for protection from the rain, reading was promoted through welcoming remarks by the organizers and representatives of publishing houses.

The first to speak was Agon Ahmeti, executive director of the organization "ETEA", who addressed the children present with a call to read, sharing with them his personal story of regaining his love for books. He asked for a promise that each of them would read at least one book per month.

"When I was your age, I loved books, but then I didn't really like reading and I wasn't a person who read. There was a period of time when I wasn't aware of the importance of books, but after some time, when I started reading, I saw how important books and reading are to building one's personality and to becoming, above all, a good and loving person, first of all for oneself, for one's family, for one's friends, but also for the country where we live," he said in his welcoming speech, inviting the President of Kosovo, Vjosa Osmani-Sadriu, for an occasional speech.

She reiterated the need to read. According to her, “the more you read, the more you will know.” She considered this event a celebration of the miracle of reading books for children, while calling for increased awareness of the importance of reading.

"Every time we open a book, we do not only open its pages, but we also open the windows of the world, we also open the window of imagination and knowledge. Today, in the next edition of the Children's Book Festival and Fair, we have gathered to celebrate the miracle, the miracle that comes with reading children's books. In stories, fairy tales and adventures, our best friends are found, they are the characters who make us laugh, they are the ones who make us learn, but also dare to act every day and more", said President Osmani-Sadriu. According to her, "every page of the book has the power to change something within us". She called the children the true heroes of this festival.

Naime Beqiraj, director of the "Hivzi Sylejmani" library, began her speech with a question addressed to the children who were making noise while communicating with each other. 

“Who among you thinks that a book is the weapon of knowledge?” she asked, raising her hand first. Along with her, hundreds of children held their hands up as she called for reading and for the empowerment of women through reading, offering the example of female athletes from Kosovo who have achieved international success.

"This is the most beautiful scenography that a person can see in this capital. I was born and raised in a very beautiful city in Kosovo, in a neighborhood that had nothing to do with reading. The only child who read when I was a child was my best childhood friend, Driton Kuka, the boy who created Kosovo's identity in the World Olympics, the sports teacher of Majlinda, Nora and Distri. I wanted to take her as an example, that although very famous athletes, girls are fellow travelers and in a way guardians of the book," said the poet Beqiraj, announcing that for these four days, at all points of the "Hivzi Sylejmani" library in the capital there will be free registration "for all the children of the city of Pristina". The "Hivzi Sylejmani" library is a co-organizer of this event, along with the "ETEA" organization.

Fatlum Hetemi, responsible for the management sector of the "Albas" publishing house in Kosovo, also emphasized the readiness to support through commitment to children's publications. He called the most special support, among many others, for this festival in Pristina.

"This event is welcome at this time, so we congratulate the organizers, express our willingness to support them and prove as 'Albas' our commitment to children's publications and the creation of the reading habit in the younger generations. This year we begin our 25th anniversary and throughout the year we will organize book-related events in Tirana, Prishtina, Tetovo and Presheva, but to be honest, the support for this festival is most special", he said in his welcoming speech.

On this occasion, recognition and gifts were distributed to the readers of the year, announced by the “Hivzi Sylejmani” library, thus setting the stage for the start of the celebration with mascots and fun activities for children. During the day, a creative workshop dedicated to cooking was also held, where the “Book of Recipes” was discussed. The “Albas” publishing house inaugurated the “Little Major Tom” book series, while in the afternoon, the readers of the year had the opportunity to meet and chat with the author of children's books, Dije Demiri-Frangu. Among other things, other workshops were held in educating children about engineering, robotics and coding. Meanwhile, throughout the day, for participating children and young people, the “Atomi” institute distributed the book “Rurgetimi” for free.