Cross-border children's reading project celebrates 10 years
Sisak, 21 April - School librarians and young readers from Slovenia and Croatia will mark on Friday the tenth anniversary of Reading Knows No Borders, a project launched by two librarians in an effort to get students to read more. In ten years, the project has grown from two schools to 92, with over 2,500 primary school students participating.
Mirjana Čubaković from the primary school in Budaševo-Topolovac-Gušče near the town of Sisak in Croatia, and Mirjam Dolinar Klavž of the Brothers Polančič primary school in Maribor, came up with the concept that sees Slovenian children reading translations of Croatian authors and Croatian children reading translations of works by Slovenian authors.
The first year students from Croatia visited Maribor and the next year, students from Maribor visited their Croatian friends and another ten schools joined the project.
Teachers and librarians have complete freedom as regards activities and methods, which can be adapted to the abilities and needs of their students. But there are three key aspects that need to be observed: books are read out loud, children have to experience the cultural heritage of the partner town and prepare a public performance.
Children love this approach, Čubaković told the STA. "They are happy to do the activities with their teachers and librarians. But they are most happy about getting to know their Slovenian peers and nurture friendships."
Despite the popularity of the project, it faces two significant problems. The first is lack of funding for the end trip in some schools, and the second is the lack of translations.
"The books in school libraries are mostly outdated and not as interesting for our students. We'd be grateful if good contemporary Slovenian youth literature were translated more into Croatian and vice-versa," Čubaković said.