DENMARK'S READING DELIGHTS * : STUDENTS GLOBAL ESSAY

! FIRST AND FOREMOST ! : The World Students Society is the exclusive and eternal ownership of every student of Denmark. Just as it is of every student in the world.

'' THE GIFT of reading and being able to concentrate on a book is something we should give to the younger / students generations, ''  Denmark's culture minister said.

Facing 'crisis,' Denmark cuts the price of reading. It seeks to increase the sale of books by exempting them from value-added tax. Officials in Denmark, as in many other places, are worried about whether people are still turning to a good book in a world of screens and scrolling.

They are hoping that a new proposal intended to make books cheaper will help. Books will soon be exempt from the 25 percent value-added tax, or VAT, that Denmark applies to some goods and services, the government said this past week.

'' We would like people to read more,'' Jakob Engel-Schmidt, Denmark's culture minister, said in a phone interview on Thursday. 

One 2021 survey found that reading proficiency among fourth-grade students in Denmark had declined with almost 25 percent considered '' weak '' readers who struggled to, for example, read between the lines or read critically.

Mr. Engel-Schmidt said that encouraging people to read would promote literacy, as well as the development of Danish culture.

He point to worries over the overuse of social media and said that in some cases, a book could cost more than the monthly charges for a streaming service.

'' Online and physical books are losing  in competition to streaming services ,'' he said. '' And we want to make a more level playing field in that regard. ''

It remains to be seen whether tax removal will actually draw new readers. Danish publishers, authors and book sellers welcomed the new initiative and said it would encourage more investment in new literature.

Book prices are expected to drop by 16 to 20 percent, said Christine Botcher Hansen, the director of Danske Forlag, a group representing  Danish publishers.

The move, she added, reflected a ''political recognition'' of the book's value and of the importance of a strong reading culture -something more critical than ever in an age where reflection and critical thinking are essential.

'' It is difficult to estimate the exact effect of this policy,'' said Mads Rosendahl Thomsen, a professor of comparative literature at Aarhus University, and the Vice Chairman of a task force that proposed the move to the government.

Reading includes, a wide range of benefits, Professor Thomsen said, including the promotion of well-being and empathy for different perspectives.

'' Its a problem if people don't read books,'' he said, '' because that's when people are confronted with complex ideas.''

The World Students Society thanks Isabella Kwai.