Various events set to ignite enthusiasm for reading

Over 1,000 activities were in the lineup for Shenzhen citizens on the occasion of the 28th World Book and Copyright Day and the Eighth Shenzhen Minors Reading Day, which fell yesterday.

Children recite Chinese poems during a reading event held at Shenzhen Library in Futian District yesterday, the 28th World Book and Copyright Day and 8th Shenzhen Minors Reading Day.  Photos by Sun Yuchen

According to Shenzhen Library, the “City of Library” network prepared 1,164 reading activities for residents. Among them were 756 offline and 359 online activities, respectively, and 49 were held simultaneously online and offline.

As one of the key activities of World Book and Copyright Day, a Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) co-reading event was launched in Shenzhen yesterday, inviting GBA residents to turn the pages of books and enjoy the pleasure of reading.

The main venue of the co-reading event in Shenzhen was set up at Shenzhen Library.

Over the weekend, Shenzhen Library also collaborated with 12 public libraries and university libraries in the city, and introduced nongovernmental reading organizations to jointly organize a large-scale outdoor reading carnival at the square of Shenzhen Library, advocating “making reading a way of life.”

Children read books at a grassland tent reading area at the square of Shenzhen Library yesterday.

The participating libraries and reading organizations designed distinctive reading areas and set up reading promotion booths for citizens to revel in fun games and creative cultural activities. A grassland tent reading area provided another option for leisure reading.

The first Shenzhen “City of Library” book-exchange fair also debuted at the square of Shenzhen Library during the weekend, which welcomed citizens to bring their own books and exchange them for books they like on the site.

Reading activities for young readers were equally exciting and diverse. For instance, Shenzhen Library organized its first family classic reading recitation contest. Shenzhen Children’s Library launched the “2023 Library Night,” inviting 100 families to spend a reading night together.

Shenzhen Publishing Group also planned nearly 100 cultural activities such as new book releases, forums, lectures, outdoor fairs and weeks-long book sales promotions for avid readers at Shenzhen Book City’s six stores and other public reading places.