National Reading Day was marked on Thursday through a debate held at the Library of the Romanian Academy and attended by students from several Bucharest high schools alongside the initiators of the law that created this national observance on February 15.

"Eurostat figures are sobering and grim, but it's my duty to share them with you. Romanians read less than five minutes a day, and 35 percent report having never read a book. 68 percent of Romanians have not read any book in the last year. Only 20 percent of Romanians read once a month and only 8 percent do it daily. The average Romanian reads one book per year, while in Germany, a person's average reading volume is 16 books per year. We drafted this law taking after America's motivational program Read Across America Day. American students end up associating reading with a pleasant activity. (...) We want to bring reading closer to all Romanians and make them aware of the importance of reading. (...) I'm glad that this day has already become a tradition. (...) Through reading we improve ourselves and are better informed," said Energy Minister Sebastian Burduja, one of the initiators of this law.

He also emphasized the historic significance of National Reading Day, bringing to mind that scholars Spiru Haret and Titu Maiorescu were born on February 15, and urged young people to read and "give the world more than they take from it."

"I wish you to be able to instil meaning into your life. Do something with the talent life has given you. I wish you to always find great pleasure in reading and write pages in the history of Romania and humanity," the minister went on to say.

Burduja also confessed that the book "that probably saved his life" is Viktor F. Frankl's Man's Search for Meaning, because it taught him that "man has the freedom to choose".

Chair of the Senate's Education Committee Monica Anisie, co-initiator of the law that created National Reading Day, highlighted the importance of family role models for getting into the habit of reading.

"Grandpa used to read to me every evening. I got to love books through the lens of my grandfather's love for books. But school also has an important role. In class, with my students, I read with them, (...) I help them understand the text and extract certain values from there (...)," Anisie confessed.

After the Senate and the Chamber of Deputies adopted on January 22, 2022 the legislative proposal signed by 22 lawmakers, mainly Liberals, the regulatory act creating February 15 as National Reading Day was signed into law by the president. AGERPRES (RO - author: Livia Popescu, editor: Mihai Simionescu; EN - editor: Simona Klodnischi)