Given a book, people will read

The Gaudeamus Book Fair in Bucharest has ended with a record number of visitors: 100,000 in all. The daily Adevărul isn't a bit surprised: "In many small towns and even some big city neighbourhoods there is no longer a single book shop. But few people seem to worry that it's so hard to find books nowadays. If the book stores ... had to make room for gambling houses, people are quick to give a capitalist explanation: 'They were closed because they couldn't turn a profit.' But has anyone taken the trouble to make them profitable? No. We are masters in liquidating and demolishing, and highly skilled at lamenting our fates. But for that very reason we are often removed from the truth and reality. The book fair has above all shown one thing: if you create access to books, people will buy them and read them. We should ... cut out the eternal complaining."

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