Promoting reading culture development from the book street model

After more than 7 years of operation, the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street model (Nguyen Van Binh Street, District 1) has had certain successes in spreading and improving reading culture in the community.

Children visit and experience the reading space at Ho Chi Minh City Book Street. Photo: Hong Dat/VNA

Following that success, Ho Chi Minh City plans to build book spaces and book streets in many other localities, aiming to bring books closer to readers, creating a breakthrough in developing reading culture.

Keep the book of the book street

Officially put into operation since 2016, Ho Chi Minh City Book Street is the first book street model deployed in the country. With a great advantage of being located right in the center of the city, near other attractive tourist destinations, Ho Chi Minh City Book Street has become a familiar destination and attracts a large number of domestic and foreign visitors to visit and experience. Ho Chi Minh City Book Street was voted as one of the 100 interesting destinations of the city named after Uncle Ho.

The exciting activities at the book street and a series of reading culture experiences at the booths have contributed to bringing books closer to readers, having a great impact on forming reading habits, improving reading culture for people. The book street is a place where many cultural and tourism activities take place; events serving political , social, cultural and educational tasks, meeting the needs of readers as well as the development requirements of the locality.

Ms. Nguyen Thu Phuong (Thu Duc City, Ho Chi Minh City) shared that her family likes to go to the book street because it is an ideal space with a wide range of books. Every weekend, she takes her children here to read, choose books and experience interesting book-related activities. Ms. Phuong hopes that giving her children regular access to books will help form a reading habit for them from a young age.

In 2022, the number of visitors to Ho Chi Minh City Book Street reached nearly 3 million. The total revenue of units at the Book Street reached 51.64 billion VND, an increase of 113.7% compared to 2021; the number of books sold increased by 40.8%. In the first 6 months of 2023 alone, the revenue of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street reached more than 32 billion VND, an increase of 56% over the same period last year. This is the highest level in the same period in more than 7 years of operation of the book street.

Mr. Le Hoang, Director of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street Limited Liability Company, said that the goal of Book Street is to continue to improve the quality of its activities, to renew itself but also to maintain its own identity about books, to create a cultural space about books, and to promote reading culture.

Replicating the model

Following the success of Ho Chi Minh City Book Street, Thu Duc City Book Street (on Ho Thi Tu Street, Hiep Phu Ward) has just officially come into operation since December 22, 2023. Located in the center of Thu Duc City, which is also home to many universities and high schools at all levels, Book Street promises to become a destination and space that attracts many people and readers to choose.

Aiming to create an outdoor cultural institution in harmony with nature, the design and construction of Thu Duc City Book Street is inspired by the Southeast cultural region with bridges across the front of the houses; respecting the existing green landscape on Ho Thi Tu Street. With a length of 190 m, a width of more than 19 m, a total area of more than 3,500 m2, Thu Duc City Book Street has more than 20 book stalls and book cafes. There are Ho Chi Minh City cultural spaces, stages and interactive reading spaces; exhibition spaces, festival activities... The investment cost for the construction and installation of booths and functional spaces is 10 billion VND from socialized sources.

Thu Duc City Book Street is expected to become a new cultural institution, a space for culture, knowledge, education, and civilized services through the spread of books and the development of reading culture. This place will become a place for community activities, a playground for entertainment, a favorite spiritual and cultural destination for people in Thu Duc City and neighboring areas. However, publishing and distribution units believe that as a local book street, maintaining and developing activities as well as attracting readers to Thu Duc City Book Street is expected to face many difficulties and challenges. Therefore, along with book business activities, units operating at the Book Street will have to continuously organize book promotion events, organize interactive activities, and sideline activities to attract a large number of readers and people.

Thu Duc City Book Street (on Ho Thi Tu Street, Hiep Phu Ward) has just officially come into operation since December 22, 2023. Photo: Thu Hoai/VNA

Mr. Lam Dinh Thang, Director of the Department of Information and Communications of Ho Chi Minh City, assessed that the establishment of Thu Duc City Book Street has extended the success of the Ho Chi Minh City Book Street model, an achievement in the development of the reading culture of the City. This is the second book street of Ho Chi Minh City and also the first local book street to be successfully developed. Contributing to the development of reading culture, Ho Chi Minh City has the orientation to continue to build and develop book spaces and book streets in localities in the area, creating convenience for people in accessing, enjoying and reading books.

“The city will develop book spaces in four axes of the city. In the East, the Thu Duc City Book Street project has become a reality. In the near future, the South will have a book street in District 7, the West is expected to have a book space in Binh Tan District and the North will be in Cu Chi,” Mr. Lam Dinh Thang shared.

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