National Library of Viet Nam organizes Book Festival Day 2019

Implementing the Prime Minister's Decision on Viet Nam Book Day and the guidance of the Leaders of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST), on April 19, 2019 the National Library of Viet Nam (NLV) and agencies of ministries, sectors, libraries, schools, international organizations, enterprises...launched the Book Festival 2019.

Attending the Festival were Mr. Pham Quang Nghi - former Politburo Member, former Party Secretary of HaNoi; Mrs. Trinh Thi Thuy - Deputy Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism; Mr. Phan Tam - Deputy Minister of Information and Communications; Mr. Bui The Duc - Vice Chairman of the Central Council for Theory and Criticism of Literature and Art; Ms. Nguyen Phuong Nga - Chairwoman of VietNam Union of Friendship Organizations; Ms. Le Thi Hoang Yen - Deputy Director Generalof Physical Training and Sport Administration; Major General Nguyen Khac Khanh - Director of the A03, Internal Political SecurityDepartment, Ministry of Public Security; Mrs. Kieu Thuy Nga - Director of the NLV, Chairwomanof the Book Festival 2019Organizing Committee; deputy ambassadors, cultural counselors, secretaries, cultural attachés, and representatives of embassies of Ireland, India, Germany, the United States, Italy, Indonesia, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, Peru, Singapore, Turkey, China; directors of Korean Cultural Center, Russian Center of Science and Culture, the American Center in Ha Noi; countryrepresentatives, deputy countryrepresentatives of international organizations:The Asia Foundation, École française d'Êxtrême-Orient (EFEO)in Ha Noi; leaders of the officesand departments of the Central Propaganda and Training, offices of the Party Central Committee, offices of the Government, offices of the National Assembly, National Assembly Committee for Culture, Education, Youth, Adolescents and Children; representatives of the offices, Departments, institutesandassociations under the MoCST, Ministry of Information and Communication, Ministry of Education and Training, Ministry of Public Security, Ministry of Defense; representatives of Viet Nam and Ha Noi Union of Friendship Organizations, Viet Nam Women's Union Association, Viet Nam Youth Association, Viet Nam Association of Historical Sciences, Viet Nam Publishing Association, Viet Nam Library Association; news agencies, newspapers and radio stations;publishing houses, bookstores, enterprises; representatives of libraries and information centers, universities and colleges, high schools, secondary schoolsand primary schools; speakers, writers, poets, researchers, critics, scientists, managers, lecturers; organizations, individuals andreaders of all ages.

With the theme “Books - Connecting knowledge & development”, the Book Festival this year continuedto be held to honor the value of books, affirm the important role of books in social life, contributeto raisepublicawareness about theimportance of reading for acquiringknowledge and skills, developing thinking, educating, training and fostering human dignity.The Book Festival 2019has brought aboutmany meaningful activities, such as: The documentary exhibition “Books - Connecting Knowledge andDevelopment”; Authors, literary works exchange; Painting through book contest; Storytelling contest in Vietnamese; Storytelling contestin English; Authors, literary works Identity contest…

(1) Documentary exhibition “Books - Connecting knowledge & development”: More than 700 featured materials are exhibited from April 19^th to May 5^th, 2019 under four contents:Books - Connecting Knowledge; Books - Knowledge of Economic Development; Books - Knowledge of Cultureand Social Development; Books - Knowledge of SciencesandTechnologyDevelopment. The exhibition provided the public and readers with useful information about the process of formation and development of knowledge through theories, great inventions anddiscoveries; the quintessence of human knowledge, cultures, civilizations and mysteries of the natural world aswell ashuman discoveries; the connection of knowledge from the past, present to the future,creating a premise for development and achievements in the fields of economy, culture, science and technologyetc.

(2) Authors, literary works Exchange:Introduce readers to typical, educational, high-definition books of publishers. Specifically: 1. Exchange with the author - Painter Trang Thanh Hien, Guestspeaker: Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung and introduce the book “Tet Paintings: quintessence of Vietnamese traditional culture” (ThaihaBooks); 2. Exchange with the author – Prof.Dr. Thai Kim Lan, Guestspeaker: Writer Le Phuong Lien, Poet Nguyen Huu Quy and introduce the new book “Tomorrow and then, the rain will stop in Spring” (Kim Dong Publishing House).

(3) Painting through book contest:Following the theme of the Festival, through the drawings and imagination of children, viewers can feel animageof HaNoi civilized, safe and friendly deservingthe name "City for peace".

(4) Storytelling contestin Vietnamese:Adapting a literary text into a stage script requires careful and elaborate preparation of teachers and students. However, it also helps students to experience the emotions, thoughts, attitudes, lifestyles of the characters, and have the opportunity to explore and promote their talents, and especially bringsto the audiences the extremely meaningful messages and value of life.

(5) Storytelling contest in English: With natural intonation, facial expressions, flexible body movements, confident expression, quickly conveying the plot content, itmakesthe contest become so interesting and exciting. The playing field has brought about thejoyfulnessand comfortable psychology for students and is also an opportunity for them to exchange and develop thinking ability as well as applyEnglish into life.

(6) Authors, literary works Identity:With specific facts aboutcharacters, authors, works, landmarksof VietNam and the world through the play sections:Funny word puzzles; Right or Wronggame, The mysterious pictures, playing teams have quickly identified and answered questions in a funnyand exciting atmosphere and received many attractive gifts from the Organizing Committee.

Within the framework of the Festival, some other activities have also taken place, such as: displaying prize winning paintings of the children at the paintingthrough books contestsin the Book Festivalof the last 3 years; receivingand sharingbookdonationfrom agencies, organizations, bookstores, publishers, individuals... to a number ofschools and librariesin difficultythroughout the country; introducingseveralbook stalls of publishers, bookstores and publishing companies to booklovers, giving them thechance to choose good books with preferential prices and attractive gifts.

Especially, at the NLV’s Festival, a thematicactivity wasorganized for preschool children to get acquaintacewith and experience the library in order to develop the habit and passion for reading from theearly age.

Through the activities of the 2019 Book Festival, the Organizing Committee wishes to convey a messageto everyone, especially to the young peoplethat: In each of our lives, books are spiritual and cultural products, a rich treasureof knowledge, providingpeoplewith endless knowledge, and head themtowards noble human values. Let’s treasurebooks and read books every day to gain knowledge, enhance thinking and analysis abilitytocreate a premise for the development of each individual and the whole society.