Spreading a reading culture to the community.

"Good books need readers" is the meaningful message of this year's Book and Reading Culture Day. In response to this day, the Department of Culture, Sports and Tourism officially launched the 2024 Reading Culture Ambassador Contest in the province to find the best entries for the national competition. These exemplary individuals who promote reading culture are contributing to encouraging everyone, especially students, to strive for knowledge.

Students are encouraged to develop a reading culture at school.

From young people who value reading.

In Thai Binh province , after two editions, the provincial-level reading culture ambassador competition has created a vibrant reading movement in schools, thereby discovering new talents and contributing to spreading reading culture in the community.

Winning second prize in the 2023 competition, Vu Minh Anh, a student from Thai Binh Specialized High School, said: "Among all book genres, I like classic Vietnamese and world literature the most. I spend more time reading than watching films adapted from literary works because I feel that when I read, my imagination becomes richer, and I feel like I'm stepping into the inner lives of the characters, sharing their joys, sorrows, and the ups and downs of their lives. To further develop the reading movement, after the reading culture ambassador competition, my classmates and I established a reading club to encourage members to share meaningful books with each other." I believe that students like us can contribute to spreading the reading movement in the community by participating in meaningful competitions such as reading culture ambassador contests, and also by using our social media accounts to post, share our feelings, and introduce our favorite books to others.

Nguyen Dieu Linh, a student in class 4A at An Dong Primary School (Quynh Phu district), who won third prize in the 2023 Thai Binh Province Reading Culture Ambassador competition, shared her passion: "I really enjoy reading, especially books about national history and cultural figures, because through them I gain more understanding of my homeland and country, and learn valuable life lessons. At the school library, I always find historical stories suitable for my age. After reading, I remember the events mentioned and research further information to use as material for introducing books to my classmates. Introducing and sharing my feelings about books is always my favorite activity."

Embark on meaningful journeys.

Sharing a passion for reading, promoting a reading culture, and overcoming the challenges of being a person with a disability, Mr. Do Ha Cu, Chairman of the Hope Reading Space Club (Thai Binh City), is striving to fulfill his desire to help people with disabilities improve their quality of life and gradually bridge the gap between them and able-bodied individuals through the development of community libraries. The ripple effect and the spark of hope have led to the establishment of numerous member reading spaces, each bearing an energetic name managed by young people with disabilities, such as Faith, Light, Love, Dream, and Reaching Further.

Last March, the Club welcomed its 33rd member when the Happy Reading Space in Dong Phuong commune (Dong Hung district), managed by Mr. Nguyen Duc Dien, a person with a disability, officially opened and began operations.

Mr. Dien shared: "For many years, I have maintained a free English learning club for students in and outside Dong Phuong commune. With the desire to provide rural children with more beneficial reading spaces, I received support from Mr. Do Ha Cu, who connected me with various organizations to donate nearly 800 books. In addition, during the opening ceremony, many individuals and organizations donated books and equipment, supplementing our valuable resources. To date, the Happy Reading Space has over 1,000 books of various kinds, effectively meeting the needs of readers not only of school age but also other age groups."

Mr. Do Ha Cu's meaningful journey is about spreading and expanding the list of community libraries, while the journey of the Provincial Library's multimedia library vehicles is about bringing more and more schools to organize vibrant reading festivals. Not only in April with 14 schools, the library vehicle journey is carried out throughout all months of the school year to best meet the reading and knowledge-discovery needs of students.

Ms. Le Thi Thanh, Director of the Provincial Library, shared: "The activities in each mobile library journey, including warm-up exercises, reading, answering questions about books, STEM games, and drawing based on books, have given mobile library activities a new dimension and have been enthusiastically received by students, teachers, parents, and schools. In 2023, the journey reached 65 schools, with 200,000 books and periodicals circulated to serve 20,000 participating students. In addition to schools, the Provincial Library also collaborated with temples to organize mobile library trips to serve summer retreats. Due to its effectiveness and practical significance, the mobile library activity has attracted social funding."

Each group and individual has their own approach, but ultimately, the journey of spreading a reading culture has become an endless source of inspiration for people of all ages and professions who silently share a love and passion for books and always want to share and spread that love to everyone. From there, they actively contribute to creating positive values for the community.