Vietnam’s first Book Day to promote reading

A book festival will officially kick off on April 19 to commemorate Vietnam's first ever Book Day on April 21, according to the Ministry of Information and Communications.
A book festival will officially kick off on April 19 to commemorateVietnam's first ever Book Day on April 21, according to the Ministry ofInformation and Communications.

Accordingly, the square in frontof the State Bank of Vietnam headquarters (on Ly Thai To street) and thenearby Ngo Quyen and Dinh Le streets will be transformed into a majorplatform for book streets and stalls to showcase the works of publishersand distributors nationwide.

Book streets will exhibit typicalsubjects, such as Dien Bien Phu Victory, national seas and islands, 60thanniversary of the capital city, and Vietnam's World Cultural Heritagesites. In the meanwhile, festival goers can visit book stalls to have alook at the publications in literature, culture and art, science andtechnology, education, and child-related books.

Within this area,specific sections have been designed for donating books to the needy,books with special prices, meetings between readers and writers, booksigning, and so on.

On April 19 afternoon, a procession willstart from the Ly Thai To Square by the side of Hoan Kiem Lake and willrun through major streets in Hoan Kiem, Ba Dinh, Dong Da and Hai BaTrung districts, and end in Van Mieu – Quoc Tu Giam (Temple ofLiterature).

Of note, a solemn ceremony to pronounce the PrimeMinister's Decision on the Book Day will be held on April 19 night atthe Ly Thai To Square and will be broadcast live on Vietnam TelevisionChannel 1 (VTV 1).

The event is aimed to highlight theimportance, role, and position of books in social life and honour thereading culture; promote reading habit in the community; and raiseawareness about competent authorities among all social strata,especially youth, about the importance of book reading.

As perstatistics revealed by the Publishing and Printing Department, on anaverage, a Vietnamese reads only 3.2 books, including text books lastyear.

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism's figures showthat the average Vietnamese reads only 0.8 books per year from thelibrary.

These figures reveal that the demand for books among the Vietnamese people was still too low, the ministry claimed.

Headof the organising board and director of the ministry's PublishingDepartment Chu Van Hoa believes that Vietnam's Book Day will be atraditional event for the entire nation, emphasising that the Vietnamesepeople harbour a traditional fondness for learning.

"We areultimately aiming for everyone to develop a passion for reading booksand consider it as a driving force for social development," Hoareiterated.

"To make the day a success, we must carry outpractical activities to promote the related sectors, individuals, andorganisations. All intend to honour the reading culture and develop thereading habit in the community," he remarked.

"I look forward toreading works by young writers and specialised activities to enablereaders to learn more about Vietnam's composition trend in the recentyears," noted Tran Thanh Huyen, a student from University of Culture.

Withinthe framework of the event, exhibitions, book fairs, book donations forrural and remote areas, and activities will be held to promote readingculture within families, schools, and localities.

Seminars andworkshops on books targeting young readers, books for enhancingknowledge and reading skills, books for the blind, e-books and printedbooks, among others, will be organised during the three-day event.

Moreover,a range of art programmes of ca tru (ceremonial singing), quan ho folksongs, and cheo (popular theatre) will be held on April 20, which willnot only promote the country's intangible culture, but also promote thetradition of reading and edification.

For making the Book Dayeventful, the ministries of Education and Training, and Culture, Sportsand Tourism will assign relevant authorities, localities, andorganisations throughout the country the task of organising numerousactivities and promoting the reading habit.


Rare books will be exhibited on April 19-26 to celebrate Vietnam Book Day.

TitledItinerary of Books, the exhibition showcases books printed between 1870and 1975, ranging from pocket books to heavy volumes. Visitors willhave the chance to see the works of Vietnamese authors as well astranslated books written by foreign authors.

All entries have been borrowed from private collections and will be displayed for the public for the first time.

Theexhibition will take place at the Dong Tay Culture and Language Centre,located at Building N11A, Tran Quy Kien street, Ha Noi.

For the occasion, the centre is also organising seminars on books and exchanges between authors and readers.-VNA

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