The honorary patronage of the first edition of “Night of Libraries” in Poland was provided by the Minister of National Education, the Ministry of Culture and National Heritage, and the National Library. Six hundred libraries from across the country took part in the event.
In Bolesławiec, librarian Elżbieta Grzyb prepared fairy-tale activities for children together with Anna Kot, Małgorzata Oleś and Anna Kozłowska. The idea’s originator and the event’s main organizer was Monika Grzyb. During the interactive game, participants picked peas out of… sand, like Cinderella, solved charades, built Baba Yaga’s house from mathematical hearts, and guessed the titles of well-known fairy tales from props.
The guest at Bolesławiec’s “Night of Libraries” was writer Grażyna Hanaf, who presented her fairy tale “The Box Girl.” The children listened to the reading with bated breath. The fairy tale frightened them, made them laugh to tears, and they liked it very much. Together with the author and her daughter, the pupils painted boxes of fear filled with spiders, snakes, strange computer-game characters and clowns. The children’s fears were—surprisingly—colorful and very cheerful. One of the mothers taking part in the activity painted a syringe in her box of fear. The children treated her fear indulgently and summed it up briefly: “How can anyone be afraid of vaccines?!” All the fears, large and small, were hidden in the boxes and displayed at an exhibition improvised for the occasion.
The organizers of the nationwide campaign were: Centrum Edukacji Obywatelskiej, Gazeta Wyborcza and Magazyn Książki, Fundacja ABCXXI – Cała Polska czyta dzieciom, Fundacja Rozwoju Społeczeństwa Informacyjnego and Instytut Książki.