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Children and youth who love reading express their views in different ways.
A young reader presented her family with illustrations of fruit, a primary student recommended the book ¡§The Balloon¡¨ which was fun to read while a senior secondary student was inspired to always live in hope after reading ¡§Chinese Cinderella¡¨.
They were three of the more than 80 participants of the ¡§Reading Programme for Children and Youth¡¨, including winners of ¡§Book Report - Star of the Month¡¨ and library volunteers achieving gold award, received awards today (September 19) in recognition of their reading efforts and services to the Hong Kong Public Libraries (HKPL).
The certificate presentation ceremony was held at the Lecture Theatre of Hong Kong Central Library.
Speaking at the ceremony, the Acting Deputy Director of Leisure and Cultural Services (Culture), Mr Lee Yuk-man said that the pursuit of knowledge was not limited to reading. He pointed out that analysis of reading materials was crucial to expressing one¡¦s views and putting them in writing, therefore helping enhance the mastery of language.
He praised the participants in writing creative reports with various themes and encouraged them to make reading a hobby.
The ¡§Reading Programme for Children and Youth¡¨ has been well-received in the community. Children aged from 4 to 19 can join the programme individually or through their school. Children aged between 4 and 9 are encouraged to join the family category, so they can read with their parents.
Fifty participants aged from 4 to 15, who had read between 1,000 and more than 3,000 books in the past year, were awarded certificates of ¡§Outstanding Award¡¨. In addition, 34 members were awarded ¡§Book Report - Star of the Month¡¨ because of their outstanding creative book reports.
The 5 actively participating schools in the reading programme were SKH Yan Laap Primary School, Pak Tin Catholic Primary School, Aberdeen St. Peter¡¦s Catholic Primary School, SKH Lee Shiu Keung Primary School and St Mary¡¦s Canossian School.
To encourage more people to engage in voluntary services, the HKPL launched the ¡§Voluntary Helpers Scheme¡¨ in 1981, recruiting volunteers aged 16 and above with Form 4 standard or above to support the library services. The voluntary services also aim to enable the volunteers to know more about the library so as to make better use of the library services. A total of 14 library volunteers, who had contributed service of more than 100 hours in the past year, were presented with gold certificates.
People who are interested in the reading programme for children and youth and library volunteers can contact any HKPL in their vicinity for details.
Ends/Saturday, September 19, 2009
Issued at HKT 13:55
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