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Putin urges to revive fading interest in reading

Russia has been one of the best reading nations in the world for a long time - Prime Minister

MOSCOW, September 28 (Itar-Tass) — Prime Minister Vladimir Putin has set forth a new task of nationwide importance - to raise the population's interest in reading. Speaking at a congress of the Russian Publishing Union on Wednesday Putin urged to revive the people’s interest in reading.

"Russia has been one of the best reading nations in the world for a long time. One should honestly say that now we are in danger of losing this status," Putin stressed. Sociological polls showed that the number of people who do not read at all - neither printed nor electronic books, has been growing, which arouses deep concern, Putin said.

“It will be no exaggeration to say that encouraging people’s interest in reading has become a nationwide task. It is important to develop and realize in practice a uniform strategy of activities which the whole society will understand and accept," Putin said.

"A nation's intellectual potential and culture depend not only on how much we read, but rather on what moral and spiritual values the books create and whether they teach us to think and analyze," Putin said. "In the interests of this country and its future we must revive people's need for books," Putin said.

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