Recently in the city of Guatemala, the XX International Book Fair (Filcen) and the XIII International Book Fair in Guatemala (Filgua) were celebrated in Guatemala City. In the context of this public space it is important to recognize the value of books and reading in the construction of more equitable and democratic societies, mainly because this instruments encourage knowledge, agreement, comprehension of diversity and social conscience. 

In the economic, the editorial industry that is strategically developed is able to accompany the process of productive transformation in society, and at the same time creating a varied and valuable jobs scattered in the territory. In the individual aspect, reading augments the capacities of learning and improves the school performance, increasing motivation, participation and adult proficiency.

Unfortunately, the scarce statistical information that is generated concerning lecture and the availability, reveals that more than half of the Central Americans does not read, at leas, a book a year. The date confirms that countries with higher education coverage and literacy, such as Costa Rica and Panama, register the top indicators in lecture. Also, near 75% of the editorial product that is registered under the international standard book number (ISBN) focuses on Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panamá, that add more than twenty-two titles registers in the last five years. In the same period of time, the international commerce related to the editorial industry sums an approximate of a billion dollars.

Based on the studies of the Regional Center for the book promotion in Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLALC), it can be inferred that the Central American legal framework related to reading and the book in addition to being disperse in different legal entities, it is incomplete when it comes to the actual necessities which hinder a major support in the integration from public administration.

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Improving lecture and editorial promotion in Central America requires public efforts in five important aspects. The first aspect is the right to read.  The states must guarantee the access to reading, caring the relevance- In other countries there has been initiatives of literacy programs and schooling, but without the permanent access to books. Secondly, the accessibility of libraries. Countries should develop their national public library system with an aim to guarantee that there is a library in every territorial unit (municipal or equivalent) and that this is regulated based on the existence of libraries en all the educational institutions.

Thirdly, concerning editorial production and book dissemination, in some countries there are fiscal incentives concerning the production and the commercialization of books, but there are no efforts in fomenting and editorial production including the translation to national languages. Public budgets should include a budget line for public expenditure concerning books that are directs to supply schools and public libraries, and that the assigned budget for edition and publication should be by competition aiming to publish national authors, with an emphasis in special groups traditionally excluded and those with different capacities. It should also support the operation and financing of book fairs in national, municipal and international character, and particular congress, seminar and workshops related to the editorial ambit.

Fourth, concerning professionalization. It should be promoted the formation of specialized professional in all the editorial areas, trying to satisfy the demands in all the process: creating, edition, mediation, publication, administration, diffusion and dialogue. Finally, concerning literary creation, there are some efforts for promotion, competition and awards in diverse form of literary expressions but this are meager. Efforts concerning promotion of scholarships should be promoted for authors and the creation of workshops, encounters and literary congress, also awards and events that promote a literary culture. This requires public efforts for investigation and particular literary forms in different linguistic communities that live in the region.

If the bet of the Central American states is democracy and development, the states should promote public policies for the lecture, that stimulate intellectual creation and the availability of libraries, literacy programs, editorial production, pedagogical mediation, training, advertisement, and the generation of public spaces that are suitable for reading and for dialogue. It is urgent that legal changes in the policies are made and that the public budget is able to construct a society with more writers, readers and books.