Działalność Rady Książki w Polsce w latach 1937–1939
The activity of the Council of Books in Poland in the years 1937–1939

Summary/Abstract: The Council of Books – a society intended to promote Polish books in the country and abroad, promoting readership among the population, and a culture of books – was active in Poland in the years 1937–1939. The goal of the following piece is to present its activity and in particular its work methods. To aid in the collection and processing of materials, the source analysis method and the analysis and critique of written text. A wide range of actors representing various parts of the literary community were involved in creating the Council of Books. In order to to identify the problems which existed in the book market at that time, the Council called up special commissions, and a survey was created to explore the rationale of book choices. The main activities initiated by the Council of Books were the publishing of theme-based list of books, intended to help (customers) in choosing books. Another policy was the creation of book vouchers, which were intended to rejuvenate the the book market and promote the buying of books. The ad campaign „One more book!” was organised from March 12th – April 4th, 1938. It was supposed to be broad propaganda campaign, conducted via printed media and the radio. Various forms of advertising were used: posters informing customers about the ad campaign, fliers explaining the details of the ad campaign, press conferences, contests (in particular, a contest for the best-produced Polish book of 1937, a contest for the cover with the best propaganda value in 1937). The Council of Books was not able to realise all its planned undertakings. The reason for this were financial problems, along with a lack of involvement of sufficient numbers of people. An unquestionable positive legacy of the council was the attempt to consolidate all the individuals and companies involved with production and distribution of books, which was a significant achievement given all the challenges faced in the book market at the time.

• Details
• Contents