TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The Taiwan Ministry of Education announced Friday (May 22) that the 2020 Taiwan Reading Festival (台灣閱讀節) won the American Library Association (ALA) award.
The annual cultural event, "Taiwan Reading Festival," takes place in December and has been hosted by the National Central Library and public libraries since 2013. It features a variety of events that aim to promote reading, according to the ministry.
This year, the program for the upcoming festival won the International Library Innovation Service ALA award, along with three other projects worldwide, the ministry added. This is the third time the National Central Library has won the prize.
The digital publishing platform system and Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies won the first two times, said the ministry.
The ministry stated the reading festival includes hundreds of activities hosted by schools, publishers, and libraries. Additionally, the events take place outside, such as in Da'an Forest Park since 2017, which combines nature and studying.
The ministry said the number of people visiting libraries rose to more than 100 million in 2019. The number of people who borrow books has also grown.