10 years of #ioleggoperché: 4.2 million pupils and 29,000 schools involved

"Educating the younger generations to read must be a priority: of the family, the school, and the institutions," Culture Minister Alessandro Giuli said in a video. To do this, an alliance for books is needed, involving everyone, from libraries to the media, and even the new technologies, which, if used creatively and ethically, can make an irreplaceable contribution to the spread of reading. This is another reason why an initiative such as #ioleggoperché cannot fail to meet with our approval. From 7 November in over four thousand Italian bookshops, everyone will be able to donate a book to make their own contribution to school libraries and offer the youngest new opportunities for discovery, and in a certain, decisive sense, for adventure, as well as growth.

In his turn, the Minister of Education and Merit, Giuseppe Valditara, who was absent due to institutional commitments, sent a message recalling that #ioleggoperché 'over the past ten years has made an extraordinary contribution to strengthening school libraries and promoting reading among students of all ages>.

The documentary "Leggere può cambiare tutto. Dieci anni di #ioleggoperché" (Reading can change everything. Ten years of #ioleggoperché) has been produced by Aie, with the support of Pirelli, to recount the impact of #ioleggoperché over the last ten years. The documentary traces the history and results of the project from the point of view of schools and will be available exclusively on RaiPlay from 7 to 16 November. A choral tale that alternates archive material, original footage and direct testimony to show how thousands of school libraries were born, grew and were transformed over the years thanks to #ioleggoperché, and is enhanced by the contributions of the President of the Republic Mattarella, Ministers Giuli and Valditara and other institutions, together with the testimony of students and teachers of all ages.

It will be presented to schools on 10 November at 10.30 a.m., on the occasion of BookCity Milano (also a partner of the project this year), in a special event with the participation of Sara Zambotti and Luigi Garlando organised by AIE and Pirelli at the company's Headquarters in Milano Bicocca. Pirelli and the Pirelli Foundation have in fact contributed to the birth and development of #ioleggoperché, supporting the initiative since 2015.

"Reading is essential for developing self-awareness, critical sense, discovering those new worlds that represent the challenges of our times, starting with artificial intelligence. AI opens up marvellous prospects if we have the in-depth capacity that reading helps us to have in order to be able to govern it. Reading therefore means knowing, growing and learning, and is an indispensable tool through which we become responsible and aware members of a community, citizens of the future strong in the awareness of our rights and duties". Marco Tronchetti Provera, Executive Vice President of Pirelli and President of the Pirelli Foundation.

Pupils involved in #ioleggoperché will once again this year be able to take part in the "Open a book, let the party begin!" contest, the theme chosen to celebrate its tenth anniversary. Schools and bookshops are invited to let their imaginations run wild and organise original activities to promote donations to their school library, recounting ten years of books, meetings and shared stories that have made a large community of readers grow. Because opening a book is always a party: every page can spark the imagination, reawaken memories, make people discover new worlds and give them unique emotions. Five vouchers worth 1,000 euros to spend in bookshops for their school are up for grabs.

Also returning to bookshops are the '#ioleggoperché messengers', ambassadors of the pleasure of reading: girls and boys over 18, but also teachers and passionate readers who will support booksellers in recommending the 'right title' to donate to a school during donation days.

Publishers' contribution to March 2026

With the close of the week of donations on 16 November, the baton will pass as usual to the participating publishers. They will contribute more than 100,000 books, which will be added to those donated by citizens. Schools that request them will be able to pick them up in bookshops next spring, marking the completion of the ten-year project.