To tie in with the first Hong Kong Reading for All Day to be held on April 23, the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) will join hands with various stakeholders to organise the first Hong Kong Reading Week from April 20 to 28.

A series of large-scale citywide reading activities will be rolled out to encourage the public to enjoy the pleasure of reading and cultivate a reading habit.

Addressing the opening ceremony of Hong Kong Reading Week, Secretary for Culture, Sports & Tourism Kevin Yeung said that the Leisure & Cultural Services Department would organise over 200 online and offline library activities under the theme of "Self/LIBRARY" to enable members of the public to experience the joy of reading.

A carnival will be held at New Town Plaza in Sha Tin from April 20 to 23, including a Hong Kong Reading Week opening ceremony on its first day.

The HKPL will introduce its electronic resources at the carnival, with a STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) workshop tailor-made for young readers to find out more about relevant e-resources.

The carnival will also feature a themed book fair, electronic reading experience zone, parent-child workshops and various talks by renowned writers as well as music performances.

The CPC Shenzhen Municipal Committee’s Publicity Department will also display selected parent-child books from Shenzhen in the carnival to promote Shenzhen and Hong Kong co-reading.

To support the establishment of the Chinese Culture Promotion Office earlier this month, the HKPL will put the reading focus on books related to Chinese history, stories of celebrities and venerable tradition to promote Chinese culture.

In response to the first Hong Kong Reading for All Day on April 23, starting from that day, the maximum number of borrowed library items will be raised from eight to 10 to encourage and enable readers to read more.

More activities will be held in schools and the community to promote reading.