However, besides these achievements, activities related to honouring knowledge values are not really as exciting andcommensurate enough with the rich culture and traditions of our nation.
Throughout its two seasons, the third National Book Awards have continued to attract more participants. This year, the awards saw the participation of 48 publishing houses across 255 titles, an increase of six publishinghouses and seven titles compared to the previous awards.
Three works were presented with A prizes, including “Lich su” (Histories) by Greek historian Herodotus, translated from English by Le Dinh Chi, “Hinh anh lam sang, Chan doan va Dieu tri trong Chuyen nganh Da lieu”(Clinical Image, Diagnosis and Treatment in Dermatology) by different authors led by Dr Nguyen Van Thuong, and “Doan binh Tay Tien” (Advancing Westward Regiment) by poet Quang Dung.
The organising board also granted 10 B prizes and 14 C prizes for works in five categories - politics andeconomics; natural science and technology; social science and humanities; culture, literature and arts; and children.
The 27 winning works in the National Book Awards 2020are highly lauded by professionals for their creativity, deep humanistic spirit and high scientific, social and practical value.
In particular, besides the content, publishers also paidmuch attention to the design of the books, printing, andelaborate illustration.
Despite being affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, the publishing industry has made great efforts in the organisation, innovation and improvement of the quality of the awards.
11 out of 59 publishers are still not in attendance at the awards while highlighted works are mainly research books and monographs. There are a few works that are suitable for the masses, causing difficulties in the approach to promoting knowledge.
The publishing industry in general is facing many challenges, including difficulties in changing the reading habits of the majority of readers, poor documentationsystems at libraries and schools, loose censorship in publishing and distribution, and rampant pirated books and copyright infringement.
In addition, many activities in honour of authors andworks are not organised in a methodical manner but only for gathering and ceremonial purposes.
At annual book festivals and book reading events, there are few practical seminars and talks while there still appear offensive situations, such as: a lack of aesthetic display, pirated books, dumping prices and others. This phenomenon not only affects publishing activities and the interests of readers but also hurts writers.
Along with the development of society, knowledge honouring activities need to be paid more attention to in order to inspire and nurture readers' minds and hearts.
To meet this task, managers, publishers and cultural activists need to devise more creative, practical and specific solutions. For example, models of private libraries and bookshelves in border areas and islands are operating effectively and are enthusiastically received by students and people.
In addition to duplicating effective models, it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristics of each locality and encourage fresh ideas and activities to promote knowledge connection in a more effective manner.
On a larger scale, publishing activities need to createstrong change and influence on reading culture in order to encourage people to take action and contribute to providing high quality human resources across many fields.
