The project is supported by the government's ‘Higher Education Reading Clubs’ programme under the National Reading Plan 2027.

With the aim of promoting books and encouraging reading, the Portuguese Catholic University - Braga Regional Centre (UCP-Braga) has just launched the ‘Liberdade’ Reading Club. The project is supported by the government initiative entitled ‘Higher Education Reading Clubs’, as part of the ‘National Reading Plan 2027’ and was launched on 30 October with a gathering where the guests spoke about the importance of reading for knowledge and human development, leaving several suggestions of works for readers. 

Following the government's challenge, a group of students, with representatives from all the courses at the Faculty of Philosophy and Social Sciences (FFCS), applied to set up the ‘Liberdade’ Reading Club, and was one of 20 projects from the country's many higher education institutions to be selected by the National Reading Plan 2027. 

Regina Campos, director of the Braga School Libraries network, Fernando Azevedo, professor at the University of Minho and Sofia Afonso, one of the people responsible for the ‘Centésima Página’ bookshop, were the guests of honour who attended the launch of the ‘Liberdade’ Reading Club, a public session that took place at the FFCS of the UCP-Braga, led by Cândido Oliveira Martins and Luísa Magalhães, professors at the Catholic University. 

‘How can we motivate young people towards books and reading as something that is not imposed, given the fact that the most recent studies show a marked decrease in reading habits among students attending higher education?’

This rhetorical question was posed to the guest speakers at the launch session of the ‘Liberdade’ Reading Club, in order to discuss what can and should be done to encourage young people to read again, which is one of the essential vectors for an effective and correct command of the Portuguese language (if this is the language in which one reads), This domain is considered by teachers and experts in the field to be the ‘foundation’ for the development of other equally important skills, such as oral and written expression, concentration, structured speech, as well as grammatical mastery of the language, among other skills, such as the development of critical thinking in those who will be the future professionals of tomorrow, in whatever scientific field. 

These and other aspects were emphasised by Fernada Azevedo at the presentation session of the ‘Liberdade’ Reading Club. ‘Reading is very important in many areas, from the emotional dimension to cognitive development, sharing knowledge and experiences, as well as helping us to question the world,’ said the UMinho professor. ‘Reading undoubtedly helps my individual and collective/social transformation. Reading means that I can transform my life. This transformation happens through reading. It's about empowering people, from an early age, so that they acquire their own individual power, as free citizens, to participate and be effective members of the polis.’

The UMinho professor gave a ‘hint’ about the book he is currently reading and which has excited him: ‘Nexos-Historia Breve das Tecnologias de Informação’. ‘I'm reading the Spanish version and this book has to do with the issue of Arifical Intelligence (AI), which is a very topical subject that interests me a lot. To what extent can AI be disruptive and create dissonance in our world? Is it all beneficial or not? What are the limits? What is legitimate in a society that uses artificial intelligence technologies, when we know that, although reading is an act of freedom, we also know that there are many ethical problems such as the issue of fake news, which gives us a biased view of the world?’ he pointed out. 

‘Mastery of reading is fundamental to the development of other skills’

Regina Campos defines reading as ‘the basis of being a person’. ‘For me, reading is always about growth, learning that is different from the classroom or textbooks. We grow as people because I think that there is also a kind of identification with the characters in a book that we are reading, which has the ability to transform us. In fact, it's a learning experience that you can't even get to by travelling.

The book allows me to learn more and I can choose what I want to read in total freedom, because I have the power to decide. Reading really is a power we have at our fingertips and it's very important that our young people have good reading habits.’

On the other hand, ‘I don't believe that people don't like to read,’ says Regina Campos, pointing out that what often happens in terms of reading is related to the problems involved in reading, which requires concentration, time and some effort on the part of the reader - problems that are easily solved with practice and good reading habits, whatever age you are. 

The director of the Braga School Library Network confessed that one of the books she read as a child that most marked her was ‘Chocolate in the Rain’ by Alice Vieira. She also left behind two other titles, one that was crucial in her adolescence - ‘Verónica Decides to Die’ by Paulo Coelho and ‘The Unsustainable Lightness of Being’ by Milan Kundera. 

‘Reading is freedom, it's something that empowers and builds awareness. When we become aware of something, we transform our inner side and from the moment we acquire this awareness, my behaviour is transformative, so reading is undoubtedly transformative,’ said Sofia Afonso. 

The head of the ‘Centésima Página’ bookshop told the launch session of the ‘Liberdade’ reading club at UCP-Braga that her bookshop project was ‘a childhood dream’. A dream that, as an adult, took around ten years to materialise, in terms of ‘draft’ work, but the motto for starting the project was the fact that Sofia and her colleague, who is accompanying her in her entrepreneurial bet, started from the same feeling they shared: ‘we didn't see ourselves in the bookshop projects that existed in the city of Braga’. An entrepreneurial adventure that she has no regrets about, given her love of books and reading (literature), which is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary this November. 

‘Reading is a difficult activity cognitively. But I don't think anything is lost, it's up to us as parents, educators and teachers to encourage our children and pupils to read, until it clicks in them like a revelation,’ said the head of “Centésima Página”.

‘We are all bearers of freedom. But literature gives us the chance to broaden our horizons and acquire a critical attitude towards the world. The fact is that reading on a mobile phone is always superficial. There's a lake that gets away. However, I understand that not all reading has to be complex, and that's why it's also up to the school to encourage our young people to read, first by attracting them with works that they like,’ he emphasised, highlighting the initiative of the students of the FFCS of Católica-Braga to encourage books and reading through the creation of a Reading Club. ‘It makes me very happy to see young people enthusiastic about reading and creating a club of this level is also creating a community: a space of freedom and autonomy.’ 

The UCP-Braga ‘Liberdade’ Reading Club website is available at: https://clubeliberdade.wixsite.com/clubeliberdade.

More information about the project at www.clubesdeleituraensinosuperior.com.