This situation poses a major challenge to the process of building a learning society, where “lifelong learning” is identified as the driving force for comprehensive human development. However, there are still quiet models that preserve and promote the spirit of reading, from home libraries to digital platforms, contributing to bringing books back into everyday life.

Digital technology , social networks and the current state of reading culture in Vietnam

In the booming digital age, when social networks, short videos and video games take up more and more of young people's entertainment time, traditional reading culture, which is the foundation for nurturing knowledge and thinking, is being alarmingly overwhelmed.

Official reports from the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism show that on average, each Vietnamese person only reads about 1 - 4 books/year, much lower than the target of 6 books/person and countries such as Singapore (14 books), Malaysia (17 books), Japan (10 - 20 books). During the week of "Developing a reading culture to promote lifelong learning" in 2024, Mr. Tran The Cuong (Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training) also gave some notable figures: Vietnam has only 30% of people reading books regularly, 26% do not read books and 44% read books occasionally. The number of books read is about 4 books/year, but of which more than 3 are textbooks and reference books, meaning that Vietnamese people only read 1 book/year and the time spent reading books by Vietnamese people is about one hour/day, among the lowest in the world.

Most reading habits today are fragmented, trendy and commercial, not driven by practical needs. Social networks, short videos, games... have pulled young people further and further away from a culture of deep reading. In Vietnam, more than 42% of the population uses smartphones, and about 50 million people use social networks such as Facebook and TikTok. Meanwhile, according to a survey by the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts), American teenagers spend an average of 2 hours/day watching TV but only read books for less than 7 minutes.

Văn hóa đọc trong kỷ nguyên số

Instilling a love of reading in young people is key to fostering a lifelong learning spirit.

Not only students, traditional reading culture is also gradually fading among adults. Ms. Pham Thanh Tra, 26 years old, an office worker in Cau Giay Ward (Hanoi) admitted that reading printed books has become "a luxury" in today's busy life: "I don't have time to sit still and read a 200 - 300 page book. After work, I just want to relax. Usually, I will watch TikTok, especially videos that summarize book content in 1 minute such as 10 lessons from How to Win Friends and Influence People or 3 financial secrets from legendary investors . It's fast, concise and helps me feel like I've grasped the core," Ms. Tra shared.

For Ms. Tra, reading traditional books requires more effort, while short videos provide the feeling of constantly updating knowledge without much effort. However, she also admitted: “Many times after watching a video, I forget the content. But anyway, it is still better than not updating anything. Books require time and patience, and I don’t have much time...”.

Models of spreading reading culture in Vietnam

President Ho Chi Minh always emphasized the role of learning, including reading, in building a well-rounded person. He once advised: “If you want to know, you must compete to learn. Learning never ends. Learn forever to progress forever”. This viewpoint considers learning as a continuous journey, ensuring that the nation does not fall behind. Many Central resolutions over the terms have set the goal of building a learning society, promoting lifelong learning to develop high-quality human resources. In particular, Resolution 29 of the 11th Central Committee determined: Building a learning society is a key requirement in fundamental and comprehensive innovation of education.

General Secretary To Lam also emphasized: “Lifelong learning to dare to think, dare to speak, dare to do, dare to take responsibility, dare to sacrifice for the common good, to become a useful person for society”. This viewpoint emphasizes that learning is not only to gain knowledge but also to cultivate personality and adaptability in the new era. In particular, reading culture is the foundation to help each person self-study, enrich knowledge and cultivate qualities.

A typical example is the home library model “The Uan Thu Trai” which was painstakingly built by Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien (former Editor-in-Chief of the Vietnam Literature and Arts Forum Magazine). This place is not only a place to store more than 10,000 books, magazines, publications in the fields of research, critical theory, dictionaries, and classic literature from home and abroad, but also an academic space open to students, researchers, and book lovers for free. There is no barcode system, nor is there a need for a loan card, “The Uan Thu Trai” operates on trust and love for books.

“The most valuable thing in reading culture is not the number of books you own, but your attitude towards knowledge. Reading is not to accumulate data, but to cultivate personality, enlighten thinking and enrich the soul…”, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien commented.

Nguyen Mai Anh, a fourth-year student majoring in Multimedia Communications at the Academy of Journalism and Communication, shared her feelings after a visit to “The Uan Thu Trai”: “My first impression was not the number of books, but the sense of respect for the knowledge that Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien conveyed through the way he cherished each book, willing to share without keeping it to himself. There, I learned more about how to read, read slowly, read deeply, read thoughtfully, not just read to follow trends…”.

When asked whether traditional reading culture is competitive enough in the digital age, Associate Professor, Dr. Nguyen Ngoc Thien frankly shared: “The role of technology cannot be denied, the problem is knowing how to use it to nurture the habit of deep reading and independent thinking. Learning through paper books, audiobooks or videos is valuable if the spirit of real learning is maintained. A strong nation is a nation that knows how to read, think, and learn for life. And the person who inspires reading can be anyone, from teachers to a young person who loves books or a mother who reads to her child every night…”.

To build a learning society, a nation that does not fall behind, it is necessary to arouse the spirit of self-study, the foundation of which starts from the habit of reading, from the love of books that spreads in every family, classroom, agency and business. Reading culture does not contradict modern technology, but can go hand in hand if properly oriented. When young people know how to stop in the middle of digital life to read a page of a book, listen to a chapter of an audiobook, or share knowledge with friends, that is when the flame of knowledge is ignited. When the country has more people who know how to read to think, learn to act, the spirit of lifelong learning will no longer be a slogan, but will become a real driving force for a society that develops through knowledge.

According to People's Army

Source: https://baoangiang.com.vn/van-hoa-doc-trong-ky-nguyen-so-a424649.html