Implementation of the National Book and Reading Plan (Promotion of democratic access to artistic and cultural goods and services — Organic Law of Culture: Art. 103, paragraph b)

The implementation of a National Plan for the Promotion of Books and Reading is mandated by the Organic Law of Culture through article 120.

With inputs from the private sector and national and international associations, national reading plans, the academy and the Regional Centre for the Promotion of Books in Latin America and the Caribbean CERLALC (in Spanish) sponsored by UNESCO, the "Jose de la Cuadra National Plan for the Promotion of Books and Reading", was launched in late 2017. It was considered a priority project for the Ministry of Culture and Heritage and therefore its actions were planned for 4 years (2018-2021).

It seeks to facilitate access to books and reading, through the promotion of free creation, the dissemination of literary heritage and ancestral knowledge, in order to increase access to cultural and scientific knowledge. It is aimed at improving the reading habits of Ecuadorians. Its purpose is to foster the habit of reading and the ability to enjoy it, as a mechanism for the full exercise of the right to education and culture, and as a liberating element for individuals enabling them to generate and develop their capacities for their benefit and that of society.

General Objective: Promoting the habit of reading as an indispensable tool for the insertion into the world of knowledge and culture, as well as for the use of spare time, by using mechanisms such as incentivizing and promoting the publishing sector.

Specific Objectives:

* Stimulating the reading habits of citizens of all age groups with diverse training activities.
* Promoting the publishing sector by means of good practices in the production, distribution and circulation of products and services.
* Accompanying the progress of the incorporation of reading habits in the target population.

The National Plan for the Promotion of Books and Reading is currently under redesign, in coordination with CERLALC and the Organization of Ibero-American States (OEI), to establish a policy that connects the library system with the education system, and, thus, make reading one of the foundations of the connection between the education sector and culture and heritage.