HZAUers attend the opening ceremony of the Reading Festival. [Photo/ Chuan Zhu]
The 26th World Book Day is observed on Apr. 23, when the 14th Shizishan Reading Festival kicks off in front of our library. This year, the festival will last for a month, under the theme of “the Ladder of Progress”. The opening ceremony was presided over by Gan Lin, university librarian, and attended by Liao Jizhong, Wang Jianhong and other heads of HZAU along with about 200 students and teachers.
At first, Liao delivered the opening speech, in which he urged students and teachers to base on the present, learn from the past and plan for the future. He referred to reading as the “lowest threshold of nobility”, and wished that every HZAUer could be a voracious reader, spending every day as if it is a reading festival.
After a video clip to review the 13th Shizishan Reading Festival in 2020, Liao presented awards to 2019-2020 “Scholarly College” and Wang Jianhong gave awards to 2019-2020 “Top Ten Reading Stars”.
Liao Jizhong presents 2019-2020 “Scholarly College” prizes. [Photo/ Liu Bowen]
Wang Jianhong presents 2019-2020 “Top Ten Reading Stars” prizes. [Photo/ Liu Bowen]
There was also a lucky draw activity conducted by Wang Yingchao, head of University Program of the Hubei Xinhua Bookstore Group, who selected 3 from nearly 3,000 HZAUers participating in the Reading Festival. Each of lottery winners will be given a reading gift pack worth nearly 1000 yuan ($154) provided by Beiyue Bookstore. Moreover, everyone that signed up for the festival can also have a set of “Shizishan Reading Gifts”, which included a commemorative E-card designed by HZUA’s library and the 1st released version of book collection ticket.
Compared with last year, the festival covers a wider range of activities this year with an increasing number of participants. “The Academic Resources & 40 Years of Journal Commemorative Exhibition” demonstrates the rich academic resources of the library, and reviews the winding history of the Journal of HZAU; “Great Books to Read” contains 36 reading exchange activities for HZAUers from different colleges or associations; “Great Books to Review”, is an essay-writing contest with a theme of “Reading the Classics, Remembering Past Glories”; “Great Books to Recommend”, offers a book list of about 600 classic books recommended by the faculty of all majors in HZAU; “Academic Writing Night” invites chief editors of authoritative journals, senior scholars, authors of research papers to provide their point of views in academic writing. In addition, the launching ceremony of HZAU’s English scientific journal Animal Diseases will be held during the festival, when books in blind box will be exchanged and shared.
HZAUers carry on the Reading Relay. [Photo/ Peng Yuge]
HZAUers read “The Old Man and the Sea” together. [Photo/ Liu Bowen]
The Reading Relay was initiated through a video by Sa Yimei, a reader from Cuba, where the book “The Old Man and the Sea” by Ernest Hemingway was set, and then was culminated by a joint reading of HZAUers present.
After the opening ceremony, a series of valuable agricultural documents of the Ming and Qing Dynasties (1368-1911) was on display for the first time in the library at 40th Anniversary Exhibition of Academic Resources and Journals, one of which was the most precious treasure of the museum Yue Ling Guang Yi, a set of books on climatic phenomena published in 1601.
Wang Jianhong and others read the historical journals on exhibition carefully. [Photo/ Chuan Zhu]
Some ancient Chinese agricultural documents are showcased for a limited time. [Photo/ Chuanzhu]
The opening ceremony attracted faculty, students and alumni on and off campus, online and offline. Jiang Ziyue, one of the “Reading Stars” from College of Economics & Management said the festival offered him a more direct channel to access scarce resources and felt the breath of history. Jiang Guolong, from the College of Engineering who just participated the Reading Relay said, “I’m deeply touched by the strong sense of participation and resonance when reading with others altogether.”
“The precious piece led me to the vast sea of knowledge, and I hope faculty and students can take the chance to learn more from the books, setting a trend of book-reading in our university.” Xu Xuefen, an associate professor from the College of Foreign Languages, added while visiting the exhibition of academic resources.
Source: http://news.hzau.edu.cn/2021/0423/60032.shtml
Translated by: Cheng Yixuan
Supervised by: Jin Bei
