Jointly organised by the Macao Public Library of the Cultural Affairs Bureau, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, the University of Macau Library and the Macao Library and Information Management Association, the “2018 Macao Library Week” will be inaugurated on Saturday, 21 April, at 10:30am, at the Old Court Building. A number of activities, including a charity sale of archived periodicals, book exchange, Bookcrossing, thematic talks, exhibitions, reading accessories workshops and reading game booths, among others, will also be held during the promotional days of the “Macao Library Week” on 21 and 22 April, while a charity sale of archived periodicals and Bookcrossing will also be held at the Taipa Library and the Centre of Permanent Education of the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau, open to the general public.
This year’s “Macao Library Week” is themed “Reading Brings People Together”, aiming to reduce the distance between people, knowledge and the world through reading, thus promoting a reading culture in Macao. The organisers will offer a variety of reading promotion activities in different locations during April and May. In addition to a number of family activities, two thematic talks “Taste Nature”, conducted by Macao environmental educator and activist, Joe Chan, will be held on Saturday, 21 April, at Sir Robert Ho Tung Library, embarking a physical and spiritual journey around books, nature and food with the participants, in order to get to know different perspectives of Macao’s natural environment, exploring the coexistence between man and nature together. In turn, in the lecture “The Literature Landscape of Macao”, to be held on Saturday, 12 May, Macao writer Eric Chau will share his personal experience in reading and writing, introduce different strategies and directions for Macao-related writing and representative works by local authors, and probe into alternative publishing possibilities other than the traditional method based on an observant analysis of the current development of Macao’s literary industry.
In April and May, the Education and Youth Affairs Bureau will organise various family reading activities such as “Parent-Child Nature Picture Book Workshops” and a series of other activities including reading sessions, storytelling and workshops. In addition, between April and July, the Youth Centre of Bairro do Hipódromo will exchange its book collection with the Centre of Experimentation for the Youth, the Youth Activities Centre of the “Exterior Port”, the Youth Activities Centre of Areia Preta, the Centre of Educational Activities of Taipa and the Lakeside Multi-Purpose Activity Centre, respectively. In addition to a number of exhibitions and promotional activities, the University of Macau Library will also host several thematic talks such as “Public Libraries @ Smart City”, “Guest Lecture @ UM Library” , “Library Director’s Governance Philosophy”, among others.Furthermore, the Macao Library and Information Management Association will organise “The Best German Book Design” Exhibition during the “Macao Library Week” and “The 8th Macao Library Volunteers and Work-Study Students Quiz Competition” on 28 April, aiming to enrich the participants the knowledge of the library through the quiz competition, thematic talks such as “Conversations with Leading Academic and Research Library Directors: International Perspectives on Library Management”, “2018 Reading Forum (I) – Professional Lecture on Library Management for Reading Promoters” and “2018 Reading Forum (II) – Lecture on the Power of Picture Books – Appreciation and Application of Books Winning the Feng Zikai Chinese Children’s Picture Book Award”.
Registration for the Macao Library Week activities is now open. For registration and enquiries, please visit the Macao Public Library website at www.library.gov.mo or call through tel. no. 2893 0077 or 2856 9440 during office hours.