Online book exhibition and fair encourages reading culture

An online book exhibition and fair in celebration of the 110th anniversary of President Ho Chi Minh’s departure to find a way to save the country via the website https://book365.vn not only highlights Uncle Ho’s life and career and the country’s revolutionary achievements during its renewal, development and international integration process but also features numerous activities which have contributed to national reading culture.

A corner at the online book exhibition and fair. (Photo: NDO)
A corner at the online book exhibition and fair. (Photo: NDO)

The event is being held in June by the Ministry of Information and Communications in collaboration with the Party Central Committee’s Commission for Communications and Education and the Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics. The exhibition was designed with the support of modern technology, introducing many precious publications and documents on the great leader’s life and career such as “Duong Kach Menh” (Revolutionary Path), “Nhat ky trong tu” (Diary in Prison), “Loi keu goi toan quoc khang chien” (The Call for National Resistance), “Loi keu goi dong bao va chien si ca nuoc” (The call to all compatriots and soldiers across the nation) and “Ban Di chuc cua Chu tich Ho Chi Minh” (The testament of President Ho Chi Minh). The publications and documents are introduced across different themes: “Ho Chi Minh and his homeland Nghe An”, “President Ho Chi Minh and the capital city of Hanoi”, “President Ho Chi Minh and the south - citadel of the nation”, “President Ho Chi Minh and Public’s Security”, “President Ho Chi Minh and the Vietnam People’s Army”, “President Ho Chi Minh’s images through postage stamps”, and “youths studying and following Uncle’s words”. The organising board, in collaboration with publishing houses, have organised many online exchanges and seminars, aiming to connect readers with practical activities, authors and famous people.

In parallel with the exhibition, an online book fair was held using modern technology platforms and a system of pavilions by nearly 100 publishing units. Accordingly, a wide range of high-quality book titles and editions are featured, many of which highlight President Ho Chi Minh and his journey to seek the path to save the country. The online forum saw an improvement in its interface and in the quality of each pavilion’s space.

Various virtual seminars and exchanges among authors, translators, researchers and publishers as well as programmes encouraging readers to buy and read books as well as many gifts to outstanding readers will feature during the fair.

Accompanying readers and the organising board, the Vietnam Post Corporation and the Central Press Distribution Company have decided to provide free shipping for orders from June 4-15 and a 30% discount on delivery fees for orders from June 15-30. In addition, several businesses are providing nearly 6,000 books with subsidies of 50-80%. Some typical book titles most ordered by readers included “Nguon coi” (The origin); “Khong gia dinh” (No Family), “An hem nha Karamazov” (The Karamazov Family’s brothers), “Than thoai Hy Lap” (Greek mythology), “Chuyen doi so” (Digital transformation), “Nguon nhan luc trong thoi dai 4.0” (Human resources in the 4.0 era) and “Cuoc chien cong nghe so” (Digital technology war). Previously, the second National Online Book Fair, in celebration of the eighth Vietnam Book Day (April 21), implemented nearly 20 different programmes with nearly 30,000 books attracting subsidies of 50-90%. As a result, 27,000 were orders shipped and sales reached VND4.5 billion (nearly US$195,300).

Book price subsidy programmes have been conducted continuously since the beginning of Vietnam Book Day. A series of meaningful events have always featured, bringing millions of books to readers across the country, especially those living in rural and remote areas, contributing to fulfilling the goal of spreading reading culture and bringing books to all the people.

Translated by NDO