Frankfurt Book Fair VP: Start Reading Clubs for Parents

What if the solution to children who don't read starts with mandatory book clubs for their parents?

Claudia Kaiser, vice president of business development at Frankfurt Book Fair, recently visited Chennai's International Book Fair with a bold message. After two decades working across China, Abu Dhabi, and the United Nations, she's convinced the publishing industry needs to focus less on technology and more on rekindling the love of reading in families.

Her most striking proposal? Give courses and training to parents who never developed reading habits themselves. "If the love for reading has not been instilled in them, I think we should make it mandatory to join a book club or something like that," Kaiser told The Hindu.

The data backs up her concern. Reading rates are declining globally, even as India's publishing market flourishes. But Kaiser sees a clear path forward that starts incredibly early.

Parents should read to their children when they're small, she emphasizes. Those early moments create fascination with books that deliver not just knowledge, but dreams and hopes to achieve goals.

Schools play a crucial role too. Kaiser suggests making it mandatory for students to read 15 to 20 minutes every morning, then discuss what they discovered. That daily habit, started young, could transform an entire generation's relationship with books.

The Ripple Effect

Kaiser's optimism about physical books might surprise digital pessimists. Research shows information sticks with people much more when they read physical books instead of screens. That staying power matters especially for readers who haven't built strong reading habits yet.

She acknowledges artificial intelligence will disrupt publishing, eliminating some jobs while creating opportunities in audiobooks and cost savings for independent publishers. But literary translation still needs human understanding of nuance that AI can't replicate yet.

Her experience in Germany offers a roadmap. The country maintains a thriving book culture through a fixed price system that protects small bookshops and a distribution network that delivers any book to any store within 24 hours. Working together instead of competing strengthens everyone.

India has massive potential to push more literary authors onto the world stage, Kaiser believes. The foundation exists with a strong current market and rich multilingual traditions. Building reading habits in the next generation could unlock that potential completely.