In today's era of rapidly increasing information flows, forming and popularizing a reading culture among youth is becoming more important than ever. This was emphasized by the President of the Republic of Uzbekistan, Shavkat Mirziyoyev, during a meeting held as part of his visit to the Fergana region.
As the head of state noted, in order to further develop this direction, it is planned to establish model libraries in 100 mahallas of the region during 2026. This initiative is intended to increase the interest of the population, especially the youth, in books.
Furthermore, entrepreneurs will be involved to encourage reading. Specifically, it was mentioned that active businesspeople who open book cafes will be provided with tax and rent incentives. This will contribute to the emergence of modern-format cultural spaces.
The President put forward another important initiative — holding an International Reading Festival every two years at the Burhoniddin Margʻinoniy complex. The goal is to further enrich the country's cultural life by inviting famous writers and poets of world literature to this prestigious event.
Special attention was also paid to the history of national literature during the meeting. The head of state spoke about the unique and incomparable role of the Qoʻqon literary environment, noting that more than 300 poets and writers emerged from this land. This demonstrates the richness of the region's cultural and spiritual heritage.
At the same time, the city of Qoʻqon was recognized as a worthy candidate for UNESCO's "City of Literature" status. However, it was criticized that this rich literary heritage has not yet been sufficiently studied systematically and that deep scientific research has not been conducted.
In this regard, specific proposals were put forward to create a special anthology and an electronic platform covering the Qoʻqon literary environment, as well as to establish a School of Literature and Creativity.
In short, these initiatives proposed in Fergana are expected to serve not only to elevate the reading culture but also to widely promote national literature on a global scale.
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