International Book Saloon for Children and Youth opened at Moldexpo centre
16:55 | 11.05.2017 Category: Culture
Chisinau, 11 May /MOLDPRES/ - The 21st issue of the International Book Saloon for Children and Youth, staged on 11-14 May, today was inaugurated at the Moldexpo Centre from Chisinau. This year issue of the event is dedicated to the 180th birthday anniversary of writer Ion Creanga.
The saloon is organized by the National Section from Moldova of the International Board on Books for Young People (IBBY), Culture Ministry, Education Ministry, Youth and Sport Ministry, Ion Creanga National Library for Children, Chisinau city hall, Writers’ Union of Moldova and other culture institutions.
Contacted by MOLDPRES, the director of the Ion Creanga Library, Claudia Balaban, said that over 110 publishing houses and book distributors from nine countries – China, France, Germany, Lithuania, Poland, Moldova, Romania, Ukraine and Hungary - were represented at the current issue. More than 16,000 book titles were exhibited and over 80 books will be launched here.
According to Balaban, the goal of the event is to promote and popularize books for children and youth. Thus, the saloon provide visitors with diverse possibilities: to know more publishing houses of Moldova and from abroad, learn new important book titles, participate in discussions with meetings with writers, in creation workshops, contests, professional meetings, buy books at low prices.
Attending the event, Culture Minister Monica Babuc stressed that it was a great happiness for those who attend such an event of promoting books, as “knowledge is power.” “Each year, we come here to get power, where are so many publishing houses with good books. The book remains the most important treasure of the intellectual creation,” Monica Babuc said.
The president of the Moldovan Writers’ Union, Arcadie Suceveanu, said that the international Book Saloon for Children and Youth had become “an emblem of spring, a cultural symbol of our capital.”
The surprise book, offered to children visiting the Saloon free of charge, will be a book by Ion Creanga this year as well. The book is illustrated by a laureate of the IBBY Honorary Diploma, Alexei Colîbneac. The book will be distributed to 15,000 families.
(Reporter N. Roibu, editor M. Jantovan)
