Transcripts
Remarks by Ambassador Ordway at the International Reading Congress
"Reading Advocacy - Democracy in Action"
Astana, Kazakhstan
April 18, 2007
Ambassador Ordway: Pleasure and honor to be here in the Pyramid, which opened its doors last September to another international gathering, the 2nd Congress of World Religions. The Pyramid's architect, Lord Foster, was inspired by the grand ideas of the 18th century's Age of Enlightenment. That makes this building the perfect setting for a conference on the enduring value of reading - especially in an era of international mass communication, the Internet, television, and pop culture.
Reading is one of the hallmarks of human civilization, and the means whereby we share our cultures, our achievements and ourselves with our friends and neighbors, peoples around the world, and generations yet to come.
Reading is the most important thing we give our children, since it provides them with the means to expand their horizons beyond their own families and classrooms. It's also one of the foundations for any democratic society
Today I will provide some examples of how reading campaigns exemplify democratic values - by involving citizens in improving the quality of life in their nations.
My examples will describe foreign diplomats working with non-profit organizations in the United States, U.S. agencies working with foreign governments, private citizens teaming up with businesses, and private citizens simply joining together - all to promote reading.
People are spurred to promote reading as television competes for our attention. Nonetheless, television is a very useful tool in education, especially programs that teach reading skills to pre-school children and in promoting other literacy and education programs.
Influential television personalities - or modern day civic leaders - make great advocates for reading. Oprah Winfrey has had a big impact on reading in the United States with her Book Club.
But First Lady Laura Bush is the most famous American advocate for reading. She has said that being able to read, and choosing what we read, is how we shape our beliefs, our minds, and our characters.
She has led several efforts to promote reading in the United States and broader literacy campaigns to promote cross-cultural understanding.
Last May she was guest of honor at the launch of the Sesame Mosaic, a project to introduce an Arabic language version of Sesame Street, a popular American television program that teaches reading, math, and social values to pre-school children.
The Sesame Mosaic project was supported by the Mosaic Foundation, charitable organization established by spouses of Arab ambassadors. The foundation's mission is to improve the lives of women and children and maintain cultural, educational, and professional dialogues between peoples of the Arab world and the United States.
Building on that success, the United States Agency for International Development worked with the Sesame Foundation and the government of Indonesia to adapt the program for children there.
Public support for reading from well known personalities helps bring attention to reading and boost interest. Of course, people have read for centuries, and they will continue to read because they seek knowledge about the world they live in and the forces that change their environments.
After September 11 people wanted to understand the sources of terrorism, and the interconnected forces that led up to the attacks. They wanted to know how to react and change in response.
Publishers and booksellers in the United States responded to people's demand for international history and world literature with their reading campaign, called "Reading the World."
Participating publishers each recommended four titles by international authors and supplied booksellers with posters, fliers, tote bags and other promotional materials. More than 250 bookstores made special displays for the international titles and recommended them to customers to raise the profile of world literature.
Some examples of these books are:
- The Kite Runner, by Afghan-American Khaled Hosseini.
- Gates of the Sun, by Elias Khoury, translated from Arabic.
- Europeana, by Patrik Ourednek, translated from Czech.
- Voices from Chernobyl, by Svetlana Alexievich, translated from Russian.
- Suite Francaise, by Irene Nemirovsky, translated from French. Written in 1942, recently discovered.
- Life and Fate, by Vasily Grossman, translated from Russian. Written in the 50s, recently rediscovered. Soviet authorities considered the novel so dangerous they confiscated the manuscript and typewriter ribbons on which it had been typed.
People are also motivated to promote reading because of tradition.
Last year hundreds of communities in the United States participated in "One-Book" reading programs.
Cities, counties, and even some states simply selected a book and encouraged the community to read and discuss it. The purpose was to provide a focal point to bring people together with common interests and promote shared values.
The One-Book programs generally scheduled other activities around the adopted book, such as public lectures, interviews with the author, newspaper articles and group discussions.
In Portland, Oregon they read The Kite Runner, described as the first Afghan novel written in English. Sponsors organized lectures on Afghanistan by local academics, kite-making workshops, Afghan food-tasting parties, concerts of Afghan music, photography exhibits, films and even a play presented by a theater group from New York City. The library got help from local businesses to cover some of the expenses and to help organize events. Local media provided publicity and interviewed the author.
Kazakhstan's Ministry of Culture has announced a similar program, "One Book, One Country."
This is a great opportunity for Kazakhstan to promote its history and literature from the pantheon of great writers like Abai, Mukhtar Auezov, Saken Seyfullin, Sabit Mukanov, and Abdizhamil Nurpeisov.
Kazakhstan has set itself the goal to become one of the 50 most competitive nations.
Promoting reading and the value of education will certainly help the country reach that goal. Education offers all citizens the chance to rise to the standards of self governance, international trade and commerce.
I'm sure that many good ideas will be generated from the collective intellectual power in this group of distinguished writers, academics, librarians, and members of the government.
Thank you.