**********************************************************
To celebrate 4.23 World Book Day, the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL) of the Leisure and Cultural Services Department organised the 4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition. With "The Earth and I" as this year's theme, the competition aimed to encourage young people to read about environmental protection and learn to love and protect the earth. The prize presentation ceremony was held today (April 26) at Hong Kong Central Library.
At the ceremony, the Director of Leisure and Cultural Services, Mrs Betty Fung encouraged the students to have a better understanding of the importance of environmental protection through reading and explore the impact of our lifestyle on the Earth so as to stimulate green living.
In view of youngsters' changing of reading mode, the HKPL in enhancing its library services has strengthened its e-resources service. Mrs Fung said that the HKPL has launched a revamped website in early April. With a modern layout and user-friendly search function, readers can now view over 180 000 e-books and a large collection of electronic resources more conveniently.
She encouraged teachers and students to make the best use of the library's rich electronic resources.
Other guests attending the presentation ceremony included the Senior Curriculum Development Officer of the Education Bureau, Ms Yvonne Lam; the Deputy Director of Academic Department of the Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union, Ms Wong Mei-kei; the President of the Hong Kong Teacher-Librarians' Association, Ms Karen Ip; the President of the Hong Kong Reading Association, Dr Lornita Wong; the Manager (Exhibitions Department) of the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Ms Mandy Ng; and the librarian of Shenzhen Children's Library, Mr Zhong Fu-kang.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has designated April 23 as World Book Day to promote reading worldwide and pay tribute to distinguished writers. In support of the event, the HKPL has, since 2004, organised the 4.23 World Book Day Creative Competition with a specific theme each year for students to read reading materials related to the theme so as to broaden their reading scope and encourage them to express their ideas and thoughts in words and drawings, thus cultivating a habit of reading and an interest in writing.
This year's competition received an enthusiastic response, with over 1,300 entries from more than 200 schools. The competition consisted of four categories ¡ª designing bookmarks in the form of graphic drawings to share the ideal Green Earth (junior primary students); letters to teachers or family members to express their views about environmental protection (senior primary students); book reports on reading materials related to ecology or environmental protection (junior secondary students); and essays related to the importance of a simple life, and no waste of resources in daily lives (senior secondary students).
Adjudicators selected the best entries in each category: 25 for junior primary, 15 each for senior primary Chinese and junior secondary Chinese, 12 for senior secondary Chinese, eight each for senior primary English and junior secondary English, and five for senior secondary English.
The winning students were presented with "super passes" to the Hong Kong Book Fair 2014 given by the supporting organisation, the Hong Kong Trade Development Council, with which the students can have free admission to the Book Fair.
Winning works from the competition will be on display at the Exhibition Gallery of the Hong Kong Central Library from tomorrow (April 27) to May 11. A roving exhibition will also be held at 18 public libraries from May 19 to August 31. The winning works will be shown at the upcoming Hong Kong Book Fair and uploaded to the HKPL website.
This creative competition continues to be part of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau library collaboration and exchange programme. The Sun Yat-sen Library of Guangdong Province, Macao Central Library and the Shenzhen Library also joined the event by organising their own competitions, also under the theme of "The Earth and I". The winning works will go on display in the libraries of the three regions.
A meet-the-authors talk under the theme "A Smarter Life. A Sustainable Future" will also be held this afternoon at Hong Kong Central Library to tie in with World Book Day, at which the adjunct professor of the Department of Geography and Resource Management of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Professor Lam Chiu-ying, will share his experience of the simple ways to live happily.
Readers who borrow library materials from any HKPL today and tomorrow will receive souvenirs on a first-come, first-served basis while stocks last.
For programme enquiries, please visit the HKPL website, www.hkpl.gov.hk/en/extension-activities/event-category/23428/4-23-world-book-day, or call 2928 4603 / 2921 2660.
Ends/Saturday, April 26, 2014
Issued at HKT 14:10
NNNN
