A conference organised by Casa Amèrica Catalunya and Catalonia International reflects on young people's relationship with reading

On 25 October, Casa Amèrica Catalunya, in collaboration with Catalonia International, organised the second in a series of debates entitled "What young people think of...". This session, open to the public and aimed at a group of students aged between 15 and 17, explored the relationship between young people, reading and its associated benefits, with contributions from Freddy Gonçalves, a Venezuelan reading promoter and bookseller and founder of the Espai Llavors cooperative bookshop, Noelia Domínguez.

The two speakers adopted a friendly, fun, and dynamic approach to the session in order to foster a dialogue with the teenagers and learn more about their interests and the aspects of reading that appealed to them. From the outset, Freddy and Noelia's way of expressing themselves engaged and captured the students' attention. To put an original twist on the topic, Freddy asked the students to define him with a single adjective based solely on his appearance, an exercise that served to highlight our tendency to label people without really knowing them, just as we do with the prejudices that exist around reading.

The session covered a range of topics, including reading trends among young people, the importance of books and the criteria that influence their reading choices. Reference was also made to the decline in the percentage of young people who read. When asked for possible reasons, many responded that they lacked time, had to study or preferred to spend their free time on other activities. Another significant factor is cost; as Gonçalves pointed out, the perception that books are an expense has become widespread. Additionally, the influence of social networks contributes to a romanticised view of reading, often overlooking the role of large publishers and the prevalence of certain titles. This results in a limited perspective on what constitutes a book, underestimating the vast variety of works available.

As for their criteria when choosing a book, the two speakers sought to provide a practical illustration of which aspects of a book attract the attention of young readers through an activity they called "Book Tinder". This involved presenting profiles of main characters from various books without disclosing which books they were from, with the students having to decide whether they were a "match" or not. If they answered yes, the book's title was revealed, and the students were often astonished by the choices they had made without considering the synopsis or front cover. Afterwards, the students took part in a book exploration exercise. The speakers set up tables around the room with various works and gave them a few minutes to try to find their literary "match". This activity allowed them to reflect on how they make decisions when choosing a book.

Thanks to their engaging, playful and fun approach to the session, the speakers succeeded in making reading and positive reading habits more attractive to the students and opened their minds to new possibilities for literary exploration.