Opening Book Festival Day 2014 "Book - From Past to Present"

In the morning of 20^th April, the National Library of Viet Nam (NLV) opened the Book Festival Day 2014 on the theme "Book - From Past to Present" Mr. Huynh Vinh Ai – Vice Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Head of the Steering Committee of the Book Festival Day 2014 at the Temple of Literature and NLV; Mr. Truong Minh Tuan – Vice Minister of Information and Communication, Permanent Steering Committee of the Viet Nam Book Day 21^st April, attended and kicked off the festival.

Were present at the Opening ceremony, Mr. Le Doan Hop - former member of the Party Central Committee, former Minister of Information and Communication; Mr. Le Nhu Tien – Vice President of the Commission for Culture, Education, Youth and Children of the National Assembly; Mr. Nguyen The Ky - Deputy Head of the Central Propaganda Department; Mr. Do Quy Doan - President of the Publishers Association of Viet Nam, former Deputy Minister of Information and Communication; Mr. Vi Quang Dao – Editor in Chief of Electronic Government Portal; leaders and representatives of the Departments, Offices, Institutes of the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism, Ministry of Information and Communication, Ministry of Education and Training; Embassies, International Organizations; Publishers, Libraries, Universities, Schools; researchers, academics, historians, writers and many readers of all ages.

During the Book Festival, NLV held several significant activities such as Roundtable discussion, Exchanges with authors, writers, literary critics, historians, known editors: Prof. Phong Le, Professor Le Van Lan, Member of Parliament Duong Trung Quoc, Mr. Nguyen Kiem, Pham the Khang, Chu Lai, Nguyen Nhat Anh etc.; Story telling competitions for children, Drawing contest for children, Book sale at preferential price.

A new feature in the Book Festival Day 2014 is identification of the authors, works, and characters Contest for visitors. Thanks to the ingenious in carnation of the classic literature of Viet Nam and the world by artists, the audience will remember and be able to update information, knowledge of authors, works and representative figure.

The Organizing Committee of the Festival presented the exhibition of documents: Books - From Past to Present, with nearly 1,000 selected items in the cultural heritage treasure of the nation preserved at the NLV, libraries, museums, bookcases throughout the country introduced Vietnamese history on sheets, printed, engraved stones, wood, bronze, modern printed books, books having obtained the book's prize, prize Ho Chi Minh, the prize of writers' Association of Viet Nam. It is a rich resource on content, forms, genres, languages, which helps the public has better understand the cultural heritage of Viet Nam through different periods of history.

Also as part of the Festival, the NLV has become a reliable address to receive and share the gifts of books by agencies, organizations, booksellers, publishers etc. for libraries in difficulty. This is a very significant footprint and humanism activity, contributing to the promotion of reading in the country.

During the Opening ceremony, Ms. Phan Thi Kim Dung - Director of the NLV reaffirmed the importance and significance of reading by sending a message to the public: Make an active reading, consider reading as the average most importantly, the shortest, most reliable way to acquire the essence of humanity, enrich knowledge, and contribute to building the country more prosperous and civilized.