At 8:30 p.m. Saturday, 22 April 2023, Thai Ha Books held the program “Viet Nam Reading Promotion – More than Happiness” at the Thai Ha Books building in Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) (23 Tan Thoi Nhat 6 Street, Tan Thoi Nhat Ward, District 12). The event went successfully with the attendance of more than 100 guests, representatives of publishers, publishing offices and press units and more than 60 members of Thai Ha Books.

Before the start, visitors took check-in photos together, relishing the taste of coffees and cakes while immersing themselves in the tuneful melody of violin on the stage.

1. Listening to sharing in “MORE THAN HAPPINESS”

Opening the program was the passionate sharing, as a show of support and companionship for books and knowledge, from Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung – Chairman of the Board of Thai Ha Books, Mr. Hai Trung – Deputy Manager of Hue Monuments Conservation Centre, Ms. Ton Nu Thi Ninh – Former Vietnam Ambassadress to the European Union and President of Peace Foundation, Mr. Le Truong Tung, Chairman of the Board of FPT University, designer Sy Hoang…

As the guests shared their stories of reading promotion and reading culture, it was shared in the talk over Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung’s merit in spreading reading culture in the past 15 years. Alternative paths to wealth shall be taken, but Dr. Hung chose to part with his remunerative job in pursuit of the goal of education and book publication, for which he remains unwavering up to now. Without untiring perseverance these goal would remain out of reach. The speakers’ stories were greeted with rounds of applause and laughter from the audience.

2. The Blooming of Knowledge – The opening ceremony of Thai Ha Books’ new building

After the discussion, Dr. Nguyen Manh Hung and four guests joined each other at the stage for the conduct of a ceremonious event: “The Blooming of Knowledge” – marking the opening of Thai Ha Books HCMC building. This means an important event with members of HCMC branch in particular and all Thai Ha Books in general, cementing a new position of Thai Ha Books in the field of Publication and Distribution.

3. The introduction of the Free Book ATM Version 2

Afterwards, the guests visited the Free Book ATM – Version 2, which comes with more sophistication and more attractive appearance than the old one. It has a capacity of 36 books of different topics under a processing system, with which readers can choose and get their free books at ease. The ATM now sits on the ground floor of the Thai Ha Book building in HCMC.

4. Opening the first “Books and Reading Culture Museum” in Viet Nam

The highlights of the program “Viet Nam Reading Promotion – More than Happiness” were not only the opening ceremony of the Thai Ha Books building, HCMC branch, but also the opening of Viet Nam’s first “Books and Reading Culture Museum”.

For more than 16 years, beside publication and distribution, Thai Ha Books has also been dedicated to finding and preserving rare and precious antique books so that today they could come on display for book lovers’ eyes. The museum stores mementos, documents, antique books in different languages, tracing their origins back as far back as to XVI-XIX centuries, as well as Buddhist scriptures on talipot palm leaves. Additionally, there are also materials from Western culture and precious Buddhist books, such as the handwritten copy of the Ceremonial Offerings for Buddhist Rituals Scripture, the original Nakaya Buddhist Scripture… The Museum is situated on the 4^th floor and is open during office hours for visitors from far and wide.

5. Calligraphic exhibition

On the 6^th floor was the display of calligraphic art, which were mainly Vietnamese and Han-Nom calligraphy from different artists. Especially, readers could order their own on-the-spot calligraphic writings by the calligrapher Chinh Trung as a souvenir of a special day.

6. A visit to the Buddhist space

The 5^th floor is for the Buddhist space, characterized by simplicity and tranquility. This place commends itself a great deal to book lovers and meditation lovers, the reason for which lies in interesting experiences with the simple and peaceful beauty.

7. Special moments at the program

Stage performance by Thai Ha Book “Academic” committee

A special moment at the event is the display of the staff’s artistic skills as a treatment to visitors. The songs “Thai Ha song”, “The tale of Mr. Hung”, “Three regions’ folk songs – the Joy of Reading”, “Serving books” on the stage filled visitors with surprise and contributed to the joyful atmosphere of the event.

The introduction of Viet Nam’s unique book “Ly – Tran Meditational Poetry”

The event also involved the presence of a special guest, poet Nguyen Duy, who introduced the book “Ly – Tran Meditational Poetry”, made from poonah paper, measuring 0.8 x 1.1m. This can be considered the unique, largest and most dedicatedly-made book in Viet Nam as well as in the world.

The program finally came to an end in emotions after more than 3 hours in the ceremonious atmosphere of the opening ceremony of the building and the Books and Reading Culture Museum. From now on, there is a new chapter on Reading culture, which continues to spread values to the public. In the future, visitors’ experiences will be diffused to a wider community in various ways. Therefore, the key to the success of the program, its scale notwithstanding, is the attendance of the guests, readers, the friends of Thai Ha Books, press units and all Thai Ha Bookers.

We would like to send bests regards and our appreciation, and look forward to meeting you at the next programs.

Yours sincerely.