To tie in with World Book Day, the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD) has launched a range of exciting activities from today (April 21). Built on last year's concept "Discover and Share the Joy of Reading – Unlock the Secrets@LIBRARY", the new theme "Exploring the New Frontiers of Reading" is introduced this year to help readers broaden and deepen the scope of their reading.
In the video programme "Interaction with Authors@LIBRARY", writers will exchange with librarians the benefits of extensive reading, as well as promoting quality books of different subjects from "Librarians' Choice" to help readers broaden and deepen the scope of their reading. They will also share with readers the services and vast collections of the Hong Kong Central Library (HKCL), as well as making known in advance a series of celebration activities for the 20th anniversary of the HKCL.
In addition, the HKPL is rolling out a "Quality Reading Culture" webpage (readingisjoyful.gov.hk/en/quality-reading-culture) and roving exhibition to further promote extensive reading in the community starting from this month. The webpage, which will be updated quarterly, introduces books according to different subjects, with "Librarians' Choice" introducing good reads, and "Readers' Pick" providing popular books of readers. Roving exhibitions introducing good books will also be held at designated public libraries.
From April 23 onwards, the HKPL will upload videos on "Fun Reading at Hong Kong Historic Buildings" to LCSD's Edutainment Channel (www.lcsd.gov.hk/en/edutainment-channel.html) in phases. The video series will lead parents and children to visit the revitalised historic buildings, including the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups Leadership Institute, Hong Kong Observatory, Haw Par Music and those along the Ping Shan Heritage Trail. They will be able to appreciate the features of these historic buildings while listening to selected thematic stories.
The HKPL organises the 4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition annually to encourage children and youth to broaden their scope of reading. Featuring the theme "Exploring the New Frontiers of Reading", this year's competition received an overwhelming response, with over 1 100 entries from more than 210 schools. Winning entries were selected from each category, with 25 chosen from junior primary, 15 from senior primary Chinese, 15 from junior secondary Chinese, 12 from senior secondary Chinese, nine from senior primary English, eight from junior secondary English, and five from senior secondary English. Results of the winning entries have been uploaded to www.hkpl.gov.hk/wbd. Some winners have also been invited to share how they fell in love with reading and their tips on selecting and reading books through the video series, "Good Tips on Falling in Love with Reading".
In addition, the "Take a Break – eReading Corner" will select 30 e-books from two popular online Chinese collections, HyRead and SUEP, each month from today to June 21. Readers can visit the HKPL's website or simply download the HyRead 3 App and log in with their library accounts to borrow the selected e-books without making a reservation and a fee.
Details of the activities are available on the HKPL's "Reading is Joyful" thematic website (readingisjoyful.gov.hk/423wbd), "Reading is Joyful" Facebook page (www.facebook.com/readingisjoyful) and Instagram page (www.instagram.com/readingisjoyful).
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