In this opening LecturaLab 24 session, Luis González, Director General of the Fundación Germán Sánchez Ruipérez, introduces the intellectual framework behind the event and the broader “reading prototype” developed with support from Spain’s Ministry of Culture. He explains that the project works across research, experimentation, public policy and advocacy to better understand reading today and to design future-oriented strategies for reading promotion.
González presents LecturaLab as a space organized around three main lines of reflection: understanding the current state of reading, identifying the variables that influence reading behaviour, and building narratives that can communicate the social value of reading to citizens and public authorities. He stresses the need for better quantitative and qualitative data, including comparable European indicators, as well as a more precise taxonomy of reading that distinguishes between different forms and depths of reading.
The session also introduces several themes that other LecturaLab participants would later develop, including the relationship between reading and the Sustainable Development Goals, digital transformation, artificial intelligence, health, libraries and public services. González emphasizes that reading advocacy must move beyond repetition and toward innovation, using evidence, prototypes and impact assessment tools to support public administrations and strengthen reading-related policies.
The presentation concludes with a broader cultural reflection on reading as a strategic asset in the digital society. Drawing on examples from Plato, Aristotle, Star Wars and Karl Popper, González argues that reading is deeply connected to learning, critical thinking, democracy and the capacity to imagine different solutions to contemporary problems.
