On the last day of 2011, a great initiative was born entitled "Wish me a book". It is aimed at everyone who feels tempted by the world of books and especially at people willing to share their passion for reading with others. Within the initiative, people are encouraged to designate five reasons why they recommend their favorite book and to inspire many people during the month to read it. Whoever manages to do it wins an interesting title that is currently sold on the book market. The initiative has already enjoyed considerable interest and has attracted nearly 30 different proposals in two weeks only. The authors of "Wish me a book" initiative are two young enthusiasts - Fannie, a 4-year student in Computer Systems and Technologies at the Technical University in Sofia, and Vasko, an expert in web design. This is just one of their ideas, which can be found on the website www.cheti.me (which means “read me”, in Bulgarian). They created it about a year ago, driven by their desire to share books with friends. We want to do meaningful things that bring us satisfaction and through which we are helpful to other people, Fannie says about their motivation to create this virtual library. For them the website cheti.me is an expression of the freedom of speech, love of books and literature, and the desire to share a dream for more people reading. The website also offers interesting news from the world of literature and culture as a whole and in the section entitled “Literary Works” every creative person can find a place for self-expression and freedom to publish their own poetry, prose, etc... The forum also contains various topics and literary debates.
"You can add the books you want to share with people, no matter whether they are your friends or just strangers, as the titles are published on theweb site'" Fannie explains. "There is a button saying “I want to read this book”. If the book is printed on paper, you can make arrangements with the interested person whether to send it by mail. This would cost you about $ 2 and I think this is a pretty low price. If the book is electronic, then you can send it by email. I made many such exchanges. There is for example a woman who already has exchanged several books with people in Sofia and she even used her trip to Plovdiv to meet a keen reader”.
Within a year only, Fannie and Vasco managed to share their passion for with many people and to inspire them take their own books out of their home libraries and share them with others. The Facebook page of the website has attracted nearly 8,000 fans. According to Fannie’s observations, women are move active, as well as people aged between 20 and 45 years. Despite the common perception that the Internet and new technologies has displaced books nowadays, the young girl is convinced that Bulgarians are interested in literature and love reading. There are people who still read books and perceive them as an opportunity to meet a new world, to learn new things and grow spitirually and intellectually, says Fanny.
What are the most popular works and texts in the virtual library?
"There is an article entitled How to Win Friends and Influence People by Dale Carnegie, which is the most visited text and causes the greatest interest among users of the site. I notice also that books on personal development, business, and marketing have been increasingly popular recently. These are books that draw deep interest. Classic novels such as The Thorn Birds are also among the most favorite titles of Bulgarians, they are very popular on the website, along with their descriptions and critical commentary published online”, one of the authors of Wish me a book initiative told Radio Bulgaria.
Translated by Rossitsa Petcova
