'Rescue' reading culture

(Baonghean) - The Book Festival is a highlight in an effort to 'rescue' reading culture in a context where readers have been and are being dominated by many forms of multimedia entertainment.

From April 20 to 22, for the first time in Nghe An, a large-scale book festival, gathering 18 exhibition booths of 13 publishing units and publishers, was held.

Light up the love of books

Preparations were underway for nearly a week before the opening of the book exhibition booths, so many Vinh City residents were present at Ho Chi Minh Square very early to immerse themselves in the atmosphere of the biggest book festival of the year.

18 exhibition booths, each with a unique design, with tens of thousands of books in many genres: history books, business books, literature books, life skills books, comics...

The most bustling was Huy Hoang Books' booth, where all the "hot" books on the market appeared, such as Dinh Mac's romance novels, Dan Brown's detective novels, and many memoirs and notes by famous domestic and international writers.

Nguyen Hoang Phuong, a student from the Faculty of Education, Vinh University, shared: “This is the first year we have attended such a big book festival. There are many booths with countless good books, and the prices are greatly reduced.”

Many people in Vinh city came to the book festival. Photo: Thanh Cuong

Notably, at the book fair there is also a booth selling used books, most of which are "unique" books about the year of publication, or special edition books, with the author's handwriting. This booth attracts many older readers. Mr. Tran Van Gian (Nghi Phu commune, Vinh city) is meticulously turning the pages of a novel by author Lev Tolstoy, sharing: "I happened to pass by and saw the introduction to the book fair so I stopped by, unexpectedly having a great "harvest".

I already have this novel at home, but it is a reprint from 2010. Today I came across a copy from the 90s. The cover is delicately hand-painted, the spine is beautifully wrapped in fabric, and the price is not too expensive. I think it is really valuable to be able to organize book fairs like this every year."

The most special thing about the book fair is that there is a separate bookcase dedicated to publications about Vietnam’s seas and islands. From geographical atlases to photo books about Truong Sa, Hoang Sa, Vietnam’s imprint on the East Sea…

Concerns and expectations

In 2014, the Prime Minister decided to designate April 21 every year as Vietnam Book Day. Since then, this year, Nghe An has organized a large-scale book festival, with a large community space, attracting many people to participate.

For many people working in communications, publishing and readers who are passionate about reading culture, being happy about this positive change is natural, but along with that comes many concerns.

Nguyen Van Binh Book Street in Ho Chi Minh City is displayed very uniquely and beautifully. Photo: Internet.

Ms. Bui Thi Ngoc - Director of Nghe An Publishing House - one of many publishers with booths at the book fair shared: “I have attended book streets in Hanoi, Ho Chi Minh City... and found that they have a very good way of doing things. In addition to displaying and selling books, the book street also organizes meetings and talks with writers and poets; draws portraits; sells souvenirs...

The booths are uniquely designed, youthful, and have their own mark. Unfortunately, this year’s Nghe An Book Fair has not organized such activities. In addition to displaying and selling books, there is only one calligraphy table. Therefore, the attraction to young readers is somewhat limited.”

In 2016, a statistic from a world-famous publisher made many people ponder: among the 61 countries with the most book readers, Vietnam was not included, while we are always proud of our cultural traditions and the spirit of overcoming difficulties and studying hard!

Associate Professor, Dr. Dinh Tri Dung - Director of Vinh University Publishing House frankly acknowledged the current state of reading culture among young people: "If a few decades ago, books were almost the only choice, people devoured whatever was available in their hands, now young people have too many choices: movies, photos, Internet... and even books have a maze to choose from."

From the book festival, looking at the reading culture in a broader way, it can be said that it is time to not only stop at calling on the young generation to read books, but also those who work in publishing need to change their mindset of "making" books, instead of "holding back" the young generation, let's move forward to catch up with the thinking and tastes of the times.

Phuoc Anh