Hanoi (VNA) – The Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day (April 21) will open at the Temple of Literature on the evening of April 17, serving readers with good books, and spreading reading culture, according to Nguyen Nguyen, Director of the Ministry of Information and Communications (MIC)’s Authority of Publication, Printing and Distribution.
In an interview granted to VietnamPlus e-newspaper, Nguyen said that within the activities to be held across the nation until May 1, there are many new features to impress readers.
According to the official, the 3D mapping technology will be used throughout the opening ceremony of the Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day. This highlights the Vietnamese tradition of studiousness and respect for teachers as well as the development of the publishing industry to improve knowledge and cultural development.
Another new feature was an online exhibition and book fair held on the national digital platform vietnam.vn built by the MIC’s Department of Foreign Information. Activities were introduced to domestic readers, Vietnamese expatriates abroad and international friends. This platform will connect readers to the online book trading platform book365.vn.
The online book fair has also received commitments from online payment platforms and shipping units to create the most favourable conditions for readers living abroad to buy books from domestic publishers.
Nguyen said that they encourage publishers to be more proactive in their work by putting books into the hands of readers instead of waiting for readers to find books by themselves. The event encourages the reading of copyrighted books.
The organisers also hope Vietnamese people will develop the habit of giving each other books as gifts.
According to him, electronic publishing in particular and digital transformation of the publishing industry in general have made relatively strong progress over the past time. Five years ago, the country had only two participating publishers with 18 e-books published each year. The figures increase to 27 and 4,000 at present, respectively.
Therefore, digital transformation is part of this year’s book and reading culture day. Activities will be more diverse, with online book fairs, cashless payment, and promotion of books and reading culture on e-newspapers and social networks.
In addition to traditional activities such as holding book weeks, fairs, and publication months, publishers, and printing and distribution establishments are also encouraged to organise online distribution channels. These can be combined with technology platforms, social networks, and e-commerce platforms to introduce and promote books.
By holding the Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day, the organisers aim to affirm the position, role and importance of books in improving knowledge and skills, developing thinking, and educating and cultivating personality. The organizers also want to encourage and develop the reading movement in the community, create a favourable reading environment, form reading habits in families and schools, and contribute to building a learning society.
The most important thing is to honour readers, writers, publishers, printers, distributors, and libraries.
In addition, the Vietnam Bok and Reading Culture Day is also aimed at enhancing the responsibility of all sectors, agencies and social organisations to build and develop the reading culture in Vietnam, said Nguyen./.
