Developing a reading culture in the community.

In the era of Industry 4.0, reading habits are becoming increasingly rare. Therefore, fostering reading habits and developing a reading culture within the community has become increasingly urgent.

The students visited and read books at the Provincial Library.

Recently, Thanh Hoa Provincial Library has implemented many activities to develop a reading culture in the community. These include promoting reading culture among the community, especially students, through events and book festivals. The content of these activities focuses on the role and importance of books and introduces good and new books to the community.

One of the key approaches the Provincial Library focuses on is building a flexible and widespread library system; innovating library and facility activities. In addition to reading and searching for materials, the Provincial Library diversifies its services to readers by organizing thematic book exhibitions and displays on major national holidays, both visually and online. To keep readers informed about books, the Provincial Library introduces new books through book reviews and thematic presentations. In particular, it creates many beneficial book-related activities for children. During the summer, each week, a theme is selected and activities are organized, such as folk games, a creative corner, painting, and handmade crafts; fun learning and reading activities (storytelling based on books, reading and writing reviews, answering questions); and children having fun experiencing different professions.

In addition, to serve visually impaired readers, the Provincial Library maintains a reading room for the visually impaired with nearly 160 braille books, over 500 audio CDs covering various fields, 5 computers with internet access, and specialized equipment to support visually impaired readers in searching for and using materials.

Recognizing the crucial role of book collection in attracting readers, the Provincial Library annually expands its partnerships with authors, publishers, and bookstores to organize programs introducing good, valuable, and new books, and to mobilize resources for acquiring high-quality and new books. Simultaneously, it allocates funds to acquire new books; mobilizes all resources to support the library with books and newspapers, improving the quantity and quality of books, newspapers, and magazines. In the first nine months of 2024, the Provincial Library acquired and technically processed 14,398 books; added 172 newspapers and magazines; and collected 183 local historical documents.

To bring books closer to the community, the Provincial Library has collaborated with schools, localities, and prisons to organize reading festivals and provide mobile library services. Since the beginning of the year, the Provincial Library has provided mobile library services to 45 schools throughout the province. In addition to the mobile library service, the Provincial Library has also organized reading festivals at schools and localities. The activities of the mobile library and reading festivals have created a new space and environment for students and the public to access many good books, sparking interest in reading and effectively developing reading skills.

Along with diversifying activities and building a book collection, the Provincial Library has focused on building and strengthening the system of local book collections. Annually, the Provincial Library regularly rotates books and newspapers to book collections, libraries, and reading rooms at local facilities throughout the province. To ensure the effectiveness of book rotation, the Provincial Library continuously selects and supplements its collection, and builds a book collection for circulation. During the book rotation process, Provincial Library staff proactively survey readers' needs to select and add materials to the circulation collection to suit the needs of each facility. Therefore, the books in the circulation collection have rich content, meeting the needs of readers. In addition to book rotation, library staff also guide local libraries on how to build and arrange book collections scientifically and attractively; and guide them on how to organize reading activities and introduce books to the public.

Furthermore, the Provincial Library actively encourages the public, especially students, to participate in the "Reading Culture Ambassador" competition; encourages schools to build "Green Library" and "Smart Library" models; and encourages localities, hospitals, and prisons to build book collections, contributing to fostering a passion for books, building reading habits, and gradually forming a reading culture in the community.

According to the Director of the Provincial Library, Le Thien Duong: "With many solutions implemented, we have encouraged and fostered a reading culture in the community, bringing practical results. Building on these achievements, the Provincial Library will continue to innovate its operations, build book collections in the community, expand links with publishers and bookstores to enrich the resources, and improve the quantity and quality of books, newspapers, and magazines."

Text and photos: Thùy Linh

Source: https://baothanhhoa.vn/phat-trien-van-hoa-doc-trong-cong-dong-229736.htm