In a move to promote reading as a human right and a condition for the free exercise of cultural citizenship, Altice Portugal, through the Altice Foundation, inaugurated another reading booth yesterday, this time in Almodôvar.
"Take, donate, read, give back": this is the motto that gives life to the already more than 45 reading booths spread throughout the country and promoted by the Altice Foundation, to which this new booth in Almodôvar was added yesterday. Through partnerships with various organizations, the Altice Foundation ensures the adaptation of these icons of telecommunications urban furniture, where the public telephone gives way to books, thus providing a space for the dissemination of reading at the service of communities.
For Alexandre Fonseca, CEO of Altice Portugal, "books and reading are invaluable to our development as citizens, as they encourage critical thinking and reflection. The Altice Foundation's reading booths project is therefore a clear contribution to the community of Almodôvar, by promoting not only a space where we can aspire to be part of a more cohesive society, but also a space where culture takes on a new meaning with the intergenerational sharing that these icons of telecommunications real estate make possible". Alexandre also believes that "this project is very important because it also reinforces our proximity to the different regions of the country, in which the non-discrimination of the territory and equal opportunities for all are two goals that Altice Portugal does not abdicate".
Almodôvar's new micro-library is housed in an old telephone box that has been refurbished and converted for educational and cultural purposes, making it a point of interaction and cultural dynamism for Almodôvar's readers. All you have to do is bring a book and take another, so that reading has a light and informal dynamic.
The conversion of old telephone boxes is inspired by a movement started in the small village of Westbury-sub-Mendip, in the south-west of England, where its residents sought to transform one of the classically red telephone boxes into the world's smallest libraries. In Portugal, this project was started by the Altice Foundation in 2013 and today has more than 45 booths spread from north to south and the islands.
This Altice Portugal initiative materializes a space for democratizing access to education and culture, with the aim of strengthening community ties, exercising citizenship and encouraging reading in a totally unexpected place, which has now been given a new lease of life. The Altice Foundation's reading booths project is part of a vast program within the scope of Altice Portugal's Social Responsibility, which focuses on key areas such as culture, education, music, sport, the Portuguese language and social intervention.