Spread the value of books to many people

"Reading books, the eyes are like a thousand-mile lamp" Cao Ba Quat's saying nearly 200 years ago spoke of the role of reading books, not only adding knowledge but also helping each person understand correctly and thoroughly each behavior of themselves and those around them.

Spread the value of books to many people A book presentation contest by students of Quang Hung Secondary School (Sam Son City) in response to Vietnam Book and Reading Culture Day 2024.

During a conversation about books, cultural and historical researcher Dao Minh Chau, Chairman of the Thanh Hoa City Historical Science Association, said: I read books since I was a child, in grade 4 I read "The Quiet Don" by Solokhov. Every year, the family's bookshelf is getting bigger, with all kinds of books: cultural and historical research, domestic and foreign literature, skill books... The bookshelf is full of books, while the children only read Nguyen Nhat Anh, Nguyen Ngoc Tu. It's a pity, so I don't hide the books, I lend them freely to anyone who comes to borrow books. She also recounted: "Once I went to the provincial Department of Education and Training to buy a book called 70 years of education. I saw a woman riding a bicycle to the female staff of the department and asked: Who are you buying the book for? - I just bought it to read. Now I don't see anyone reading books anymore. I'm so happy that you're reading it, let me find it for you, you don't have to pay." The truth is that around me, fewer and fewer young people pick up a book and read it.”

70 years old and with more than 40 years of research experience, books are like her friends. “I often tell young people who are pursuing a research career that when you pick up a book, read and research documents, the data will come and stay with you much longer than when you pick up your phone and quickly skim through it.”

According to data from the Department of Publishing, Printing and Distribution (Ministry of Information and Communications), Vietnam is among the top Southeast Asian countries publishing large volumes of books annually. Each year, our country consumes about 500 - 600 million copies of books. Of which, textbooks, teaching materials, and exercise books serving education still account for a large proportion. If textbooks are not counted, the reading rate of Vietnamese people is only about 2 books/person. By 2030, the target is to increase the reading rate to 4 books/person.

To achieve that, do “good books need readers”, or do readers have to find books? Either way, the relationship between readers and books is symbiotic. Chairman and Director of Thanh Hoa Publishing House Company Limited Hoang Van Tu said: I am reading the book “The Teacher” by Senior Lieutenant General Nguyen Chi Vinh. The book is more than 500 pages thick, not only talking about the contributions of Mr. Ba Quoc (Intelligence Major General, Hero of the People's Armed Forces Dang Tran Duc), but also about the struggles, sacrifices, and difficulties he had to overcome. Hearing the title, many people will think the book is dry and difficult to read. But no, it is a very good book. In just a short time, the attractiveness of the content and the spread of many readers, the book has been printed with 16,000 copies.

Mr. Hoang Van Tu's explanation also aims to say that: The more readers there are, the more the content and message of the book can be conveyed to many people, many places. From there, it contributes to improving the reading culture, especially in the context of globalization, readers are not only influenced but also saturated by information highways from newspapers, social networks and other information channels.

In reality, the number of books has increased, the number of copies has increased, there are also many good books, but the number of readers is still quite modest, not to mention reading "from beginning to end". Speaker Nguyen Quoc Vuong, in a talk about reading culture, affirmed: In our country, there is no organization or social activity that systematically builds reading habits. The propaganda, guidance, and education of reading skills have not been conducted in a systematic and regular manner. There are also no basic sociological surveys on the reading environment, reading activities, and reading culture on a national scale...

As a publisher, Mr. Hoang Van Tu understands that: Nowadays, finding and buying books is quite easy. In addition to the traditional method of going to bookstores, bookstores, stationery stores, people can also buy on the online pages of publishers or buy through Tiki... The problem here is to effectively promote reading culture and spread the value of books to all classes of people, the first thing is that each family must form the awareness of reading for young children; schools need to have extracurricular activities by introducing books, reading books, building green libraries under trees, open libraries (students find books to read, put them in the right place...); authorities at all levels need to pay more attention to propaganda work on reading culture, building a "reading promotion" team, inviting speakers to talk about books...

The story of the Ha Duyen Dat Private Library in Village 5, Xuan Lai Commune, Tho Xuan District is an example of the spread of the reading movement. After nearly 9 years of operation, the library named after a loyal revolutionary soldier has been collected and preserved by his grandson, Mr. Ha Duyen Son, and currently has over 2,700 books, with over 8,000 volumes (not including newspapers and magazines) including many types of books, such as: Law books, politics, literature, history, medicine, books related to technology, animal husbandry, farming, children's books... All books are stamped by Mr. Son, divided into detailed categories, arranged on shelves in a scientific and neat manner, with the book title, borrower, borrowing date and return date clearly recorded in the logbook. Up to now, the library has 500 readers who are issued regular cards. On average, a few dozen people come to read and borrow books every day, and in the summer, the number can double.

Canh Hoach village chief, Xuan Lai commune, Hoang Dinh Tu affirmed: Since the establishment of Ha Duyen Dat library, in Xuan Lai commune in general, Canh Hoach village in particular, children have a place to play and study after school; people have a place to read books in their free time; the elderly have a space to chat and share useful information. A small library but has spread great things.

In contrast to Ha Duyen Dat's private library, Mr. Le Mai Buu's Van Ninh Duong Library in Dong Lac village, Hoang Trach commune, Hoang Hoa district, which mostly contains Nom and Han books, is almost silent. According to Mr. Le Mai Hung, Mr. Le Mai Buu's son, the bookcase holds more than 500 ancient books of many genres such as Literature, History, Science, Oriental Traditional Medicine... collected and preserved by his father and previous generations.

More than 60% of the books are printed in Chinese and Vietnamese books are engraved and handwritten, including the Kim Van Kieu Quang Tap Truyen printed in the year Giap Thin under the reign of King Thanh Thai. Ancient books are printed or handwritten in Chinese characters, so not everyone can access them and wants to learn about them. In particular, since 2019, Mr. Le Mai Buu passed away, this precious bookshelf has become even quieter. "No one opens it, because those who know Chinese characters in the family have passed away, and we don't know how to read, so why open it? Knowing that the books are precious, we just keep them," said Mr. Le Mai Hung.

A good book without readers is a loss. For Mr. Le Mai Hung’s family, this precious asset is being eaten by termites and damp, causing many books to be torn to pieces even though they have been carefully wrapped and placed in a locked wooden cabinet.

The ancients said, “There is gold in books.” In recent years, books have become a gift that adults give to children on holidays, hoping that their children and grandchildren will spend some time reading books every day. “Good books need readers” will be more effective if we can spread it through a specific model or movement. For example, “You have read it, please give it to me” will encourage people to read books, thereby sharing and showing off useful books and beautiful quotes to others, so that more good books can reach everyone.

Article and photos: CHI ANH

Source