As Prince of Lorenzburg I hope to share the magic of reading books. It is true, we live in high-tech and digital times, but life itself is an analogue experience that isn’t intended to be lived through the computer screen! No, because people aren’t made up of nuts and bolts and cables on the inside and our brains don’t compute in straight lines of binary ones and zeros. It is our heart and blood and tears and dreams that give us the strength to get out of bed every morning. It is love, hope and imagination that drive us to love, to learn and to create a rich and awesome world together.
I was always surrounded by books when I was a little boy. I had them in my school bag, under my bed, in the bathroom, in the car and in every drawer. Books are portable worlds (or dreams?) that can be shared with other people regardless of time and place. As a grown up, and in my work as a Prince, I hope to encourage people to read both alone and to each other. Books are tangible. They have bodies and temperament and weight in ways that a PDF never can. Books still work even when thunder has struck the cables and the light is gone. Books teach us new words and they invite us to walk a mile in another’s clogs or to wobble along on their stiletto heels. Hanging out with books makes us grow as humans.
Today I want to mention a library project in Wisconsin – USA. I hope to initiate a similar movement in Lorenzburg. In the project little “libraries” are set up in public spaces: in the street, in a playground or in the jogging tracks. It is a simple enough concept: Please take a book/ Please leave another book in return. The result is a small-scale collaborative literary democracy. Of course, just owning or trading books isn’t enough. One has to read them too! Why not read aloud to each other? Why not gather the family, light some candles, make some hot chocolate and Journey together to the Middle of the Earth and back during some nights? I think I can guarantee you will have a memorable trip! micronation
Please read more about our American inspiration: Little Free Library
