News

May 13, 2021, 11:19 AM by Redazione

The more you travel, the more you read - the “e-L.OV. +Viaggi+Leggi” initiative has started: 18 thousand access points along the Atac network to download hundreds of e-books

A free digital library spread across the whole city, available to Rome's public transport customers. As part of the "e-L.OV. Leggere Ovunque” - Read Everywhere - initiative of Roma Capitale, Atac has developed the “+ Viaggi + Leggi” project in collaboration with Forum del Libro, Biblioteche di Roma (Rome’s Public Libraries), the organization Liber Liber and Clear Channel Italia.
 
Passengers waiting at bus stops or inside metro stations will be able to download for free hundreds of titles to their smartphone or tablet, choosing between books, audio books and music tracks. Over 18,000 QRCodes will be displayed along the Roman transport network, corresponding to as many access points to the virtual library, from which travellers will be able to download the titles for free and without limits. The titles will be replaced by new ones every six months.
 
“I am very proud of this initiative. Last February in the district of Tor Bella Monaca we inaugurated the first e-L.OV library and today the project is extended to the Roman public transport network, at bus stops, on the metro. Hundreds of e-books can be downloaded for free. Our goal is to expand the audience of readers and make culture ever more accessible and available to everyone”, declares the Mayor of Rome, Virginia Raggi.

“With this initiative we give an original connotation to our network, turning it into a virtual library. Offering customers a free cultural service is a way to remind everyone of the public function of transportation, which not only means moving millions of people, but also offering quality services that improve the transport experience. Reading is an excellent travel companion, but it is even more a source of inspiration, especially for the new generations.  And we like to think that our “invitation to read” can represent a contribution to the construction and dissemination of culture among young people and not only", comments the sole administrator of Atac, Giovanni Mottura.

Passengers will be able to access the titles of the libraries on air, on the panels of bus stop shelters, on board of some trains of the Metro lines A and B, on the notice boards of some Metro line C stations and at the bus terminus platforms of Termini. Furthermore, in the area near the metro entrance of Termini station, travellers will find a digital library with more than three hundred titles, including two special sections dedicated respectively to Dante and Trilussa and the Roman poets.

There are many sections of different genres and for all age groups: Italian literature, classics from all over the world, classics for children, women's writing, poetry, theatre, audio books, symphonic and chamber music, essays on art and travel.

Atac has also dedicated two special sections to its customers: the so called "Travel books", designed for Roman public transport travellers - with reading times that correspond to the average duration of a single journey by metro or bus - and "foreign language books” for foreign communities, that are increasingly using public transport. The texts are in English, French, Spanish, Bengali and Romanian. The languages were chosen by analysing the distribution of the numerous foreign subscribers.