In line with its mission to promote education, Habacus donated two vouchers of €2,500 each for the purchase of books to enrich two primary school libraries, the Duca D’Aosta School and the Gaspare Gozzi, part of the Istituto Comprensivo Dante Alighieri in Venice.
The initiative will enable the schools to expand their libraries by purchasing 400-500 volumes from the historic Toletta bookshop, a key feature of the Venetian community. The first orders have already been placed and the books will arrive in a couple of months, as the school libraries are currently closed due to anti-Covid measures.
The two libraries will be developed following the Renier Michiel School Library model, a project made possible thanks to the awareness of retired teacher, Luana Mazzoni. This library model is designed to meet children’s needs, encouraging them to read and learn through a process guided by teachers and parents. The selection of books to be purchased was based on the needs of the schools and their respective activities, including fiction, such as classics, fantasy and detective stories, as well as books on inclusion, history, science, the environment and gardening.
The Duca D’Aosta School’s topic choice will focus on books on botany as, equipped with a large green area within the school, this will give the children the opportunity to put into practice what they have learned from books through specific activities. The Gozzi school, on the other hand, will lean towards buying texts that stimulate reflection on gender equality and diversity to give children the right tools to identify healthy values such as sharing and social inclusion.
“We are delighted to be working with Habacus on this project,” said Natascha Eggert, teacher at the Duca D’Aosta School. “Reading is an integral part of our educational activities and the library is a place for exploration. Stories that inspire imagination, reliving one’s own experiences, observing and generating images, a place for research and exchange.”
With this initiative, we at Habacus are reaffirming our commitment to promoting education and supporting schools at a time of greatest need, continuing our mission to invest in training. Books and literature are very powerful tools for educating children because they allow them to learn, stimulate curiosity and teach a sense of citizenship.
“Habacus’ mission has always been to promote education and empower students to invest in themselves by learning to believe in their own abilities,” affirmed Paolo Cuniberti, CEO of Habacus. “Habacus’ core business is indeed higher education finance, but we believe that investing in training and education from an early age maximises the country’s human capital, which is why we have decided to partner with local educational establishments, headteachers and teachers, as was the case with the two Venetian primary schools in setting up the two libraries.”
