April 23th is World Reading Day. The Publicity Department of Municipal Party Committee, Leading Group Office of the Reading Activity for the Whole Citizen and City Culture Radio and Television News Publishing Bureau officially launched a series of activities of “Public Reading Month”, which set off an upsurge of deepening the nationwide reading and created the city of reading. China is a state of ceremonies and vast literature with long history. Yichang is a reading city gathering many talents. To create a brilliant life accompanied by reading!” Under the leadership of Peng Hongwei, one of the Top Ten Reading promoter and professor in China Three Gorges University, a group of college students jointly read the reading declaration in a loud and poetic voice and proposed that all citizens should read. There are an eternal and obsolescence-free topic- Why should we read?  What books should be read ?  

The launching ceremony of “Public Reading Month” in Yichang is also an important activity, which is the first session of “Yangtze Reading Festival” in provincial library at Yichang meeting-place. Professor Zhan Furui, the former curator of National Library as a guest of Yangtze forum (a special event in Yichang) ，led the citizens who like reading, to review the history for knowing “the ancient Chinese readers and their culture”. Zhan Furui gave the examples of Tao Yuanming and other ancient Chinese intellectuals to tell us that we must choose the classic to read by elaborating the relationship between study and cultivating moral character, scholars’ two moralities(carrying forward the right way and keeping the moral rules),the four skills(instruments, art, chess and poetry) and romantic things. He said that reading classic is not only vital to the spiritual growth of people, but also to the spirit development of a state and nation. At the starting ceremony, the municipal government has cited the advanced departments and personage in the “Public Reading Activity” including a group of scholarly counties, cities, organs, enterprises, campus, villages, communities, families, construction sites, the youth, and good reading promoter, reading demonstration bases, barracks, police stations and prisons. Municipal post office donated books to the rural library and schoolbags to stay-at-home child.　

On that day, the city also held the 2015 public reading activities achievement exhibition. At Tian Ci Book city of Xinhua Bookstore, the municipal library initiated an activity themed “I pay for your reading”, carried out the specialized training of “digital library into the community and implemented happy house world reading day special activity- illustrated drama performances. A series of interchange activities, themed “grassroots dreams space” carried out in X coffee shop of China Three Gorges University library. Various districts and departments of Yichang also organized colorful “Public Reading Month” activities. (Reporter Huang Chunmei)