Rome's public transport has become a free digital library

From the book “Venice. History of water and land"

Rome's public transport network, ATAC, has launched the +Viaggi +Leggi project, allowing all its users to download e-books, audiobooks and music tracks for free an unlimited number of times. This was reported on the website of the city council of the capital of Italy.

Access to e-books and audio files is provided by more than 18 thousand QR codes located at bus stops, on board some metro trains, on special notice boards in the metro, as well as in the access area to metro stations and bus stations. Each such code is an entrance to a virtual library, which can be used using a smartphone or tablet.

Today, the ATAC virtual library contains hundreds of different books and music recordings. It presents a wide selection of titles and sections for every taste and age: Italian literature, classics from around the world, children's classics, a section dedicated to women's literature, poetry, drama, audiobooks, symphonic and chamber music, art and travel essays. It is expected that in six months the library will update its content.

At Termini train station you can access two special sections. One of them is dedicated to the work of Dante, and the other to poets who wrote in the capital's dialect, known as Romanesco. Two more sections of the ATAC virtual library also have their own specifics. One of them is called “Books for Passengers” - it contains works whose reading time approximately corresponds to the time of a trip around the city (for each book, its reading time in minutes is indicated). The second section is “Books in foreign languages” for tourists from other countries who are increasingly using Roman public transport. They are written in English, French, Spanish, Bengali and Romanian, which were chosen after studying the national composition of Rome metro passengers.

According to Virginia Raggi, the current mayor of the Italian capital, the +Viaggi +Leggi project was initially tested in one area of ​​Rome, Tor Bella Monaco, where the virtual library opened in February and the experience was considered successful. The joint project with ATAC is part of a more ambitious program by the Rome City Council called eL.OV. Leggere Ovunque (Reading Everywhere). It is supported by the National Central Library of Rome and other cultural institutions.