I have been keeping an eye on the cultural voucher programs various European countries employ to encourage young people to get out and engage in different experiences. The program differ in detail. There are some that provide rail passes to allow people to explore different geographic areas, including outside their own countries. Others are focused on arts and cultural experiences within the country. I have written about Germany’s KulturPass before, but I recently caught a story about the most recent round of the program.
According to a recent article, as of August 9, in terms of units purchased since this year’s KulturPass program began on June 14, books and other printed materials have lead the way by far. Then cinema tickets, concerts and theater, museums and parks, musical instruments, audio media and then sheet music. In all, about 200,000 units have been purchased in the last two months. About 136,000 German 18 year olds have activated the passes worth €200 (US$219)
In terms of amount spent, concerts and theater lead the way given the greater cost. “….at something around or above €12 million (US$13.2); books follow with so €11 million (US$12.7 million); and cinema tickets follow in third place with €461,000 or more (US$505,900).”
Lest you think Germans are particularly bookish with 49% of voucher funds being used to purchase tomes, Italy has seen similar results with their pass.
“…Italy’s corresponding “18App”—the original “culture voucher” for young citizens in Europe. There, in 2021 specifically, the publishers association reported that 18-year-old Italians were spending 80 percent of their €500 vouchers on books during January and February of that year.”
Obviously, there may be differences in the design and implementation of the pass in Italy that encouraged larger purchases of books. The fact these numbers come from a period 10 months into the Covid pandemic when there were reduced opportunities for other activities likely influences the numbers as well. However, these programs are good examples of a tool to provide bottom up funding to provide a little stimulation to arts and culture organizations.
This is so interesting, Joe!
As you may know, I’ve been shifting towards writing fiction, and as part of that, learning about the publishing industry. Young Adult (YA) is in a complicated position where the books are written for kids but most of the marketing goes towards adults with money–some school librarians, but also lots of 20 and 30-somethings who read YA. I could imagine a widespread initiative like this impacting publishing schedules (get the big books out in Jan/Feb to get some of that pass money!) and marketing tactics.
That is interesting to think about. I wonder if the pass does or is starting to determine the release of books in Italy according to that schedule. I don’t know if schools hold book fairs like they did when I was a kid. (If they do, I suspect they are threatened by the current political climate.) I would imagine that some publishing schedules revolved around those.