Croatia becomes world’s first Free Reading Zone country

Croatia is the first nation in the world to become a Free Reading Zone, meaning readers can now log in anywhere in Croatia to access 100,000 books from around the globe.

In September, the Croatian capital became home to the world’s first Free Reading Zone cafe, when Zagreb’s Cafe Velvet made a free virtual library available to its customers — now the same goes for the whole country!

The online library boasts a wide range of genres, in languages including Croatian, English, Spanish, German, Italian and French. To access the library, which is made possible by ebook service Total Boox, budding readers need only download the Croatia Reads app.

“It’s a pleasure and an honour to inform citizens of Croatia and visitors [...] that they can read plenty of books for free from all around the world, in various languages,” Croatia Reads said in a statement.

The Free Reading Zones project originates in America, and has seen a number of public spaces — such as trains, hospitals and airports — made into areas for free reading.

Source: Croatia Week