Bringing libraries to factories to improve knowledge, imagination and the quality of life and work
Books in the factory. The Campiello Prize brings books to us, starting in the industrial areas of the north-east. But some companies are already well equipped, with company libraries such as those at Pirelli in Milano Bicocca, Bollate and Settimo Torinese. And their presence opens up new spaces not only for improving the general knowledge of workers, office staff, managers and entrepreneurs (and their families), but above all for spreading a real pleasure in reading: the discovery of hitherto unknown facts and characters, the stimulation of imagination and fantasy, seeing new worlds, other lives, surprising stories. The adventure of the “pleasure of the text”, in short. And along the way we can also achieve an improvement in the quality of life, an awareness of the many faces of humanity, a strengthening of community and civil bonds.
The “Campiello in the factory” initiative was launched a few years ago as one of the many initiatives to promote a prize that was founded in 1962 on the initiative of Veneto industrialists with the aim of rooting corporate culture in the wider regional and then Italian cultural and social world. In addition to the main prize (five literary works selected by a panel of experts and submitted to the final judgement of a public jury of readers), there are the Campiello Giovani (for young writers), the Campiello “opera prima” (for first works), the Campiello Junior (for authors of children’s books) and the Campiello Natura (for books on nature). The aim is “to bring culture closer to the workforce and to help spread the cultural and social values of our companies, as well as to improve, thanks also to good literature, the prospects for economic development and environmental and social sustainability”, as Mariacristina Gribaudi, engineering entrepreneur and President of the Campiello Prize Management Committee, explains.
The factories involved so far are Eni’s petrochemical centre in Marghera and others in Montebelluna, Sacile and Torreglia, in the most dynamic industrial areas of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. “We have seen the passionate participation of more than 600 workers, with curiosity, focus and a desire to know,” says Gribaudi. And she adds “Our intention is to extend the initiative to other regions over time.” And working with local public and private libraries, with reading clubs, with schools and universities and, why not, with other cultural initiatives and festivals of all kinds can be a way forward.
Awards and festivals dedicated to business literature are also on the increase (in Biella, the oldest, but recently also in Bergamo, on the initiative of the Italy Post publishing group, and in Verona, for the best business books, to name but a few). And in schools and universities, literary texts that focus on enterprise, work, the ability to take action, the factory (from Primo Levi’s “The Monkey’s Wrench” to the recently republished “The Gothic Line” by Ottiero Ottieri, a lucid and painful account of the “sad face of the boom” of the Italian economy in the 1960s, to quote a summary by Edoardo Albinati, who signed the preface) are being reread.
On the other hand, there is a growing awareness in the corporate world. After a long period in which entrepreneurs have described themselves as “people of action”, “many deeds, few words”, it is now necessary to strive not only to improve “knowing how to act”, but also to strengthen “action knowledge”, the history of industry, manufacturing, technology, enterprise and work. To counter the anti-business culture that is still all too prevalent in large sections of public opinion (and anti-technology, anti-science and anti-innovation). Above all, however, the aim is to raise awareness among the new generations that it is precisely companies, the best Made in Italy sectors (mechanical engineering and mechatronics, avionics, shipbuilding, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, robotics and the agro-food, furniture and clothing industries) and the services linked to them, in short, the world of the “real economy” and production, that are the places in which to invest their knowledge and direct their ambitions for growth and a better future.
The promotion and development of company libraries is also part of this context, often linked to the establishment of company museums and historical company archives. And public libraries linking up with businesses in an area: the Archimede multimedia library in Settimo Torinese and the Multiplo cultural centre in Cavriago, in the province of Reggio Emilia, are good examples.
In the primacy of the “knowledge economy” era, on the other hand, it is necessary to have in the company not only technically well-trained people, but also young people who are curious about the scale and developments of the world, who are ready to live new experiences, new personal and professional adventures, who cultivate the generous attitude of hope and of having a “vision”, a responsibility, a “mission”. And trying to govern new digital technologies, starting with Artificial Intelligence.
The pages of a book with a well-told story (even pages in digital format) are valuable tools. Not just because, as Stéphane Mallarmé liked to say, “the world ends in a beautiful book”. Much more, because without the words of a book it is impossible to imagine or build new worlds, even slightly better than the ones we live in now.
As a reference, one of the best lessons of the 20th century, Marguerite Yourcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian”, is worth mentioning: “The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of myself, I see ahead.”
Books in the factory. The Campiello Prize brings books to us, starting in the industrial areas of the north-east. But some companies are already well equipped, with company libraries such as those at Pirelli in Milano Bicocca, Bollate and Settimo Torinese. And their presence opens up new spaces not only for improving the general knowledge of workers, office staff, managers and entrepreneurs (and their families), but above all for spreading a real pleasure in reading: the discovery of hitherto unknown facts and characters, the stimulation of imagination and fantasy, seeing new worlds, other lives, surprising stories. The adventure of the “pleasure of the text”, in short. And along the way we can also achieve an improvement in the quality of life, an awareness of the many faces of humanity, a strengthening of community and civil bonds.
The “Campiello in the factory” initiative was launched a few years ago as one of the many initiatives to promote a prize that was founded in 1962 on the initiative of Veneto industrialists with the aim of rooting corporate culture in the wider regional and then Italian cultural and social world. In addition to the main prize (five literary works selected by a panel of experts and submitted to the final judgement of a public jury of readers), there are the Campiello Giovani (for young writers), the Campiello “opera prima” (for first works), the Campiello Junior (for authors of children’s books) and the Campiello Natura (for books on nature). The aim is “to bring culture closer to the workforce and to help spread the cultural and social values of our companies, as well as to improve, thanks also to good literature, the prospects for economic development and environmental and social sustainability”, as Mariacristina Gribaudi, engineering entrepreneur and President of the Campiello Prize Management Committee, explains.
The factories involved so far are Eni’s petrochemical centre in Marghera and others in Montebelluna, Sacile and Torreglia, in the most dynamic industrial areas of Veneto and Friuli Venezia Giulia. “We have seen the passionate participation of more than 600 workers, with curiosity, focus and a desire to know,” says Gribaudi. And she adds “Our intention is to extend the initiative to other regions over time.” And working with local public and private libraries, with reading clubs, with schools and universities and, why not, with other cultural initiatives and festivals of all kinds can be a way forward.
Awards and festivals dedicated to business literature are also on the increase (in Biella, the oldest, but recently also in Bergamo, on the initiative of the Italy Post publishing group, and in Verona, for the best business books, to name but a few). And in schools and universities, literary texts that focus on enterprise, work, the ability to take action, the factory (from Primo Levi’s “The Monkey’s Wrench” to the recently republished “The Gothic Line” by Ottiero Ottieri, a lucid and painful account of the “sad face of the boom” of the Italian economy in the 1960s, to quote a summary by Edoardo Albinati, who signed the preface) are being reread.
On the other hand, there is a growing awareness in the corporate world. After a long period in which entrepreneurs have described themselves as “people of action”, “many deeds, few words”, it is now necessary to strive not only to improve “knowing how to act”, but also to strengthen “action knowledge”, the history of industry, manufacturing, technology, enterprise and work. To counter the anti-business culture that is still all too prevalent in large sections of public opinion (and anti-technology, anti-science and anti-innovation). Above all, however, the aim is to raise awareness among the new generations that it is precisely companies, the best Made in Italy sectors (mechanical engineering and mechatronics, avionics, shipbuilding, chemicals, pharmaceuticals, automobiles, robotics and the agro-food, furniture and clothing industries) and the services linked to them, in short, the world of the “real economy” and production, that are the places in which to invest their knowledge and direct their ambitions for growth and a better future.
The promotion and development of company libraries is also part of this context, often linked to the establishment of company museums and historical company archives. And public libraries linking up with businesses in an area: the Archimede multimedia library in Settimo Torinese and the Multiplo cultural centre in Cavriago, in the province of Reggio Emilia, are good examples.
In the primacy of the “knowledge economy” era, on the other hand, it is necessary to have in the company not only technically well-trained people, but also young people who are curious about the scale and developments of the world, who are ready to live new experiences, new personal and professional adventures, who cultivate the generous attitude of hope and of having a “vision”, a responsibility, a “mission”. And trying to govern new digital technologies, starting with Artificial Intelligence.
The pages of a book with a well-told story (even pages in digital format) are valuable tools. Not just because, as Stéphane Mallarmé liked to say, “the world ends in a beautiful book”. Much more, because without the words of a book it is impossible to imagine or build new worlds, even slightly better than the ones we live in now.
As a reference, one of the best lessons of the 20th century, Marguerite Yourcenar’s “Memoirs of Hadrian”, is worth mentioning: “The founding of libraries was like constructing more public granaries, amassing reserves against a spiritual winter which by certain signs, in spite of myself, I see ahead.”