To encourage more people to read on public transportation, I proposed to our mayor Emil Boc that the city not charge passengers who read books. It took me more than a year to make this proposal a reality. Long story short, between the 4th and 7th of June 2015 everyone who “travelled by book” in Cluj-Napoca rode free of charge.

I also do other campaigns with my friends to promote reading, for instance, Bookface. People who have a book on their Facebook profile picture receive discounts in all sorts of places, from book stores to hair salons and even in dental practices. Another action we carry out is on the 23th of April (World Book Day). On this day, people who have a book with them can visit for free the local Botanical Garden.

PS: our biggest challenge now is to persuade Mark Zuckerberg to Book-face his Face-book profile. So keep your fingers crossed.

I came up with the idea of not charging passengers who read books on public transport

Our mayor posted my proposal on his Facebook page and the feedback was amazing

Finally, after 1 year of constant effort, my idea became a reality

Between the 4th and 7th of June 2015, anyone who read a book on the bus rode for free

I believe that it’s better to promote reading by rewarding those who read, instead of criticising the ones who don’t