“Send a book to Vilnius”: I did not expect such an enthusiastic reception

A campaign „Send a book to Vilnius”, which lasted for a few months, has come to a close. Today the books went to the libraries in Szymon Konarski High School and Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School in Vilnius.

The campaign was launched and led by Anna Matusewicz, a Vilnian who has been living in Gdynia for quite a long time. 1000 books have been collected during the campaign. “I did not expect that the campaign would receive such an enthusiastic reception. I thought we would collect at most a few boxes of books. People were not only brining books, they were also sending them by post. I am glad that so many amazing people got involved in the campaign. In addition, I had the opportunity to revisit the places in Vilnius I have not been for a long time” – A. Matusewicz did not hide her satisfaction during a conversation with zw.lt.

The campaign was supported by the Voivodeship and Municipal Public Library in Gdańsk. The organizers emphasized that they were collecting primarily the books of contemporary authors which are quite difficult to find in Vilnius.

 “I found out about the camping in the Internet. It attracted my interest since all the time I have been following the campaigns like this, which we can take part in and which give an opportunity to get new books. I wrote to Mrs. Matusewicz and she replied that she would involve our school in her campaign. We get books not very often and if we do, we get old editions” – Katarzyna Valeikienė, a librarian of Szymon Konarski High School said. She emphasized that the students are interested in books, especially those made into movie.

„We have plenty of works of romantic or positivist literature. What we need are the works of contemporary literature, especially of the poets like Herbert, Szymborska or Różewicz. Because this is a contemporary literature” – Teresa Michajłowicz, Szymon Konarski High School principal said.

Adam Mickiewicz Junior High School principal, Czesław Dawidowicz, thanked Anna Matusewicz, who also graduated from this school, for the books. He emphasized the value of this campaign. However, according to the principal, it often happens that people donate books simply in order to get rid of something unnecessary.

Someone gets rid of his library and donates the most worthless books. It is not done deliberately. It is a goodwill gesture. Nevertheless, not every book is suitable for school. Sometimes people donate books that are useful, though. And then it is extremely valuable” – Cz. Dawidowicz said.

A. Matusewicz emphasized that the campaign generated great interest in Poland and she would like to continue to run it. “I would like to keep running the campaign, but I need a group of 2-3 people. Until now I have been doing everything by myself. It would be good to organize the points where people can donate books in different cities in Poland so that they will not have to send them by post” – the organizer of the campaign “Send a book to Vilnius” said.

For quite a long time Anna Matusewicz has been writing a blog Misja: K.S.I.Ą.Ż.K.A. [Mission: BOOK] that aims to make reading popular. Last year the blog received honorable mention in the contest “Blog of Gdańsk”.

Source: http://zw.lt/wilno-wilenszczyzna/wyslij-ksiazke-wilna-nie-spodziewalam-sie-ze-bedzie-taki-odzew/

Tłumaczenie by Martyna Kołtun w ramach praktyk w Europejskiej Fundacji Praw Człowieka, www.efhr.eu. Translated by Martyna Kołtun within the framework of a traineeship programme of the European Foundation of Human Rights, www.efhr.eu.