Book fairs hit home run for reading in Hualien County

2015/07/23

Two book exhibitions organized by the Cultural Affairs Bureau of Hualien County Government are boosting interest in reading among locals and helping spotlight a storied chapter of the eastern Taiwan’s region’s sporting past.

First out of the blocks last November is a baseball-themed event. Featuring 42 books on the sport, the fair is visiting each township library in Hualien.

Bureau Section Chief Yang Shu-mei said the exhibition capitalizes on the eastern Taiwan county’s strong ties with the national sport. “Our Noko team was the first from Taiwan contesting the National High School Baseball Invitation Tournament during the Japanese colonial period [1895-1945].”

According to Yang, during the heyday of Taiwan professional baseball in the 1970s and 1980s, many of the players came from Hualien. “The exhibition is rekindling old memories and inspiring the youth to learn more about the greats who helped make the sport what it is today,” she said.

As part of the event, the bureau arranged for a special screening of “Kano,” the 2014 box-office champion about a Taiwan team making it to the final of Japan’s high-school baseball tournament in the 1930s. In addition, film director Umin Boya gave a presentation and fielded audience questions.

Of equal interest is a fantasy exhibition comprising 42 academic-selected titles. Running from April until the end of next month at Hualien’s main library, the fair comprises such offerings as “Banno Kanteishi Q” series, “Big Change for Stuart,” “The Da Vinci Code,” “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” and the “Wildwood Chronicles.” Also on display is an edition of well-known Chinese folk novel “Tale of The White Snake Madam.”

“Combining traditional Chinese culture and oodles of imagination, the tale surely deserves to be read by all and sundry,” Yang said.

“We believe that through these fairs, as well as other measures such as mandatory morning reading for high schoolers and promotion of lending services at libraries throughout the county, residents will improve their reading skills and reconnect with the basic pleasures contained within the pages of a book.”

Source: Taiwan Today (http://taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem=232868&ctNode=413)