For ten years, Partir en livre has been offering events to make young people want to read.
One in three young people between 16 and 19 do not read for leisure. “Their time is increasingly consumed by screens. They spend on average ten times more time on it than on reading. says Pascal Perrault, general director of the National Book Center (CNL), commenting on these figures taken from the Ipsos study published in April, “young French people and reading”. “These trends are worrying since children’s imagination, the construction of their personality, the learning of knowledge are at stake. This calls for mobilization.” Save reading time: the CNL carries out actions all year round to “give a taste for books”, such as the National Quarter Reading (third edition in March 2024) or the Nuits de la lecture (9th edition in January 2025). Partir en Livre, the national book festival for young people, another highlight, is celebrating its tenth anniversary this year from June 19 to July 21.
In a decade, the objective has not changed: “We want to be wherever young people are to offer them books that will interest them. We must go out to meet them, at the foot of buildings, on beaches, in parks, in leisure centers.” From Lire en short until 2016 to Partir en Livre today, festival-goers have continued to show their enthusiasm for the book initiative. It has more than 250,000 visitors each year. This success is verified in the same Ipsos study: 18% of young people surveyed took part and clearly wanted to read more afterwards. Olympic summer obliges, the theme of the 2024 edition focuses on sports and games. Dominique Rocheteau, the two-time World Cup semi-finalist, is its godfather.
Visitors will find the essential events and actions of previous years, with a few new features. The launch takes place on June 19 and 20 at the CNL in Paris, with writing and illustration workshops. A bookstore will be set up there and young people will be able to choose books using Read Checks, offered by the Center. Furthermore, the Livrodrome literary amusement park is touring France for the fifth consecutive year. The departure took place in Ermont (Val-d’Oise) on June 11 and the arrival is scheduled for July 11 in Montélimar (Drôme). In each city where he stops (Saint-Germain-en-Laye, Lille, Florange, Belfort and others), activities combining sport and reading are organized: the Book Games, the Grand Quiz, the Scrabble BD and the Bookclub. More than 150 authors, professionals and book artisans are participating this year. Young people will also find Partir en Livre on the Vinci network where 25,000 books will be offered to them over the weekend. For a summer richer in reading.
