Special Reading Initiatives
The National Centre for Education has identified reading literacy as one of its top priorities, and since 2014 teachers and other interested parties have been invited to attend annual conferences devoted to reading instruction. The National Library of Latvia and regional libraries and municipalities have organized various events to support reading literacy.
Olympiads in various subjects are popular for talented students starting at the school level and progressing through city and regional levels to international competitions.
In 2014, 361 children’s books were published in Latvia.25 In 2001, specialists from the Children’s Literature Center at the National Library of Latvia started a nationwide reading program called “Children’s Jury.ˮ26 As part of this program, a committee of experts selects a collection of the newest children’s books to be distributed by the National Library of Latvia to participating regional libraries. The collection includes six books for four age groups (5+, 9+, 11+, and 15+) and four books for parents. Participants in the program read the books intended for their age group and complete a survey to evaluate each book. At the end of the year, the top three books for each age group are recognized at awards ceremonies around the country.