Bookstores and libraries will be opened in social housing in working-class neighborhoods as part of an experiment to promote reading. A first test will take place in Rillieux-la-Pape, near Lyon, with MP Alexandre Vincendet, according to the minister.
Rachida Dati also declared that she had asked the regional directorates of cultural affairs (DRAC) to make books available to leisure centers, popular education associations and all institutions that request them to constitute “a common heritage” to all young people. These announcements come a few days after the publication of a survey by the National Book Center (CNL) pointing to a lasting erosion of reading among young people in favor of time spent on screens. The Minister of Culture also announced in March other measures to promote young people's access to culture, in particular that she would make the Youth and Culture Centers (MJC), players in popular education, “eligible” for the Culture Pass.