Lyon Metropolis: a reading assistance system tested in priority neighborhoods

Lucie Vacher, Vice President in charge of children, and Bruno Bernard, President of the Lyon Metropolitan Area, in the Sources district. @MétropoledeLyon

Supported by the Ministry of Culture, the "Premières Pages" program helps families access a wider range of cultural offerings. Its pilot project was launched in Écully, near Lyon.

A national initiative supported by the Ministry of Culture, "Première Pages" aims to provide assistance to families who are far from rich cultural offerings. It consists of offering families a set of original albums and reading recommendations from the departmental library network for each birth or adoption.

In a desire to make culture a lever for social inclusion and to strengthen the cultural offering in its territory, the Lyon Metropolis wanted to experiment with this system in the city's priority neighborhoods (QPV), and in particular in Écully in collaboration with the Sources library, which volunteered.

Neighborhood families received the children's book "Ce petit moment, à lire dès la naissance" (This Little Moment, to Read from Birth) by author and illustrator Élo, as well as a subscription to the Réseau Rebond media library. A total of 300 books will be distributed at the various PMI reception centers in the QPVs (Quality of Life) in the urban area. The program is expected to be expanded to other volunteer media libraries soon.