Spreading reading culture at "Kilo Book Festival"

(Baothanhhoa.vn) - If knowledge is the common property of humanity, then promoting reading and spreading reading culture is not the task of any individual, agency or organization but the common responsibility of the whole society. In Thanh Hoa, in recent years, in addition to the attention and efforts from all levels, sectors, units and organizations, many young people have joined hands to contribute, through practical and meaningful work, to promote reading culture in the community.

In The Life Cafe space, "Kilo Book Fair" is held 2-3 times/year with thousands of books in various genres and fields.

Last weekend, The Life Cafe owner Nguyen Van Hoang (38 years old) connected with a group of young people in Hanoi to organize a "Kilogram Book Festival" right in his cafe space.

This book fair brings a great opportunity for parents and children who love books in Thanh Hoa when gathering thousands of good children's books, diverse genres such as: Fairy tales, fables, comics; history books, science books to explore the world; life skills books to help children develop comprehensively; coloring books, handwriting practice books, puzzles... In addition, the book fair still has many impressive books serving a variety of ages. Books for sale here include new books, old books with many different prices, calculated by kilogram or by discount percentage (30%, 50%, 70%...), but in general, they are cheaper than the cover price. Books are neatly arranged and classified to facilitate readers' experience, selection and purchase of books.

Ms. Dieu Linh (33 years old, Hac Thanh ward) and her husband and children joined the book fair quite early. Ms. Linh has known about this activity for a long time through posts shared on Facebook but only now has the opportunity to experience it. “My job is also busy and I have a small child, so sometimes I know the information but I can't arrange to go. Coming here, I am very happy, I feel like I can live more slowly. The space of the shop is cool and green, located on a quiet corner of the street. The books are diverse, with many topics for the whole family to choose from, suitable for their interests and ages,” Ms. Linh commented.

What made Ms. Linh happier and somewhat surprised was that both her husband and children were very “cooperative” and excited about the book fair. Especially the two children were always busy choosing books and whispering to each other about the content of the books they read. Ms. Linh shared: “My family will definitely come back for the next book fairs.”

This is also the first time Nhu Ngoc (17 years old, student of Quang Xuong 1 High School) has participated in the "Kilo Book Festival" at The Life Cafe. Nhu Ngoc's house is about 20km from the venue of the book festival, so many times when she heard about it and wanted to participate, she had to give up. Nhu Ngoc shared: "I really like detective stories, memoirs, novels about family and love. I personally like reading books but I don't have the conditions to regularly buy books or participate in book festivals."

This “Kilo Book Fair” took place on the occasion of her brother’s return from Hanoi, so Ngoc asked him to take her there. Carefully browsing through the book display tables, Ngoc selected a number of books for herself and her younger sibling at home. “I hope Thanh Hoa will have more book fairs and book events like this organized in schools and localities to spread, connect, and create conditions for students and rural children like me to access and participate,” Ngoc confided.

Because it took place on the weekend, the book fair became more and more crowded as the afternoon went on. Many people were carrying their favorite books to the checkout counter. Some people, whose original purpose of coming to The Life Cafe was to enjoy a leisurely weekend morning sipping coffee and chatting with a few friends, saw the bustling atmosphere of the book fair and eagerly “joined in”. Some people just happened to pass by, saw the book fair and were curious to stop by and then became “fascinated”, wandering around for an hour choosing books with no intention of leaving.

Mr. Vu Cong Phuong (40 years old), works as a freelancer. While waiting for his partner to come to discuss work, he took the opportunity to attend the book fair, buying his children some stories, books on popular science, and skill development. Mr. Phuong said: “The children are on summer vacation, and they don’t go to extra classes much, so they get lost in TV and phones. Seeing that the book fair has many children’s books, I chose to buy them, hoping to distract the children’s attention from smart devices, and further cultivate their reading culture.”

It is known that Mr. Nguyen Van Hoang has maintained the organization of the "Kilo Book Festival" for more than 3 years now, regularly 2-3 times/year, each time the book festival takes place for about 4-5 days. Mr. Hoang confided: "I myself am a person who loves reading, interested in developing a reading culture. Previously, Thanh Hoa was almost devoid of book festivals. Recently, with the attention of all levels and sectors, along with the spread of Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day, Thanh Hoa has more and more book festivals and book-related activities organized. With the desire to create a space to connect book lovers, spread the love of books to the community, so that everyone can buy books at "affordable prices" without having to worry about fake or pirated books. Along with that, I also want to enhance the experience for customers when coming to The Life Cafe". In addition to organizing the "Kilo Book Festival", The Life Cafe of young owner Nguyen Van Hoang is also a regular venue for flower arrangement workshops, outdoor music shows..., gradually shaping a cultural space combined with a coffee shop.

From the space of a book fair, many positive signals have been shown about the level of spread and strong change in the community's awareness of books, reading and reading culture. Mr. Hoang added: "After more than 3 years of maintaining the organization of the book fair, I feel that many Thanh Hoa people, from the elderly to the young, always have love, passion and interest in reading. I myself feel very happy to be able to contribute to connecting and spreading that love and interest through organizing the book fair. This is also the motivation for me and my colleagues to continue to maintain and develop the book fair further, from arranging and decorating the space more beautifully and scientifically, continuing to search for and supplement good and quality books to meet the needs of everyone when participating in the book fair...".

Article and photos: Hoang Linh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/lan-toa-van-hoa-doc-o-hoi-sach-ki-lo-255318.htm