A 144m long section with 19 stalls will open as the HCM City Book Street on Nguyen Van Binh Street in central District 1 on November 23. — Photo thesaigontimes.vn

HCM CITY (VNS) — A 144m long section with 19 stalls will open as the HCM City Book Street on Nguyen Van Binh Street in central District 1 on November 23.

The pedestrian-only street will feature books and magazines from domestic and foreign publishers. The stalls will be managed by 20 companies involved in the industry.

Le Thai Hy, director of the city's Department of Information and Communications, said the street would be managed by the department and HCM City Agency of Viet Nam Publishers' Association.

The aim of the street is to promote the reading habit, and encourage cultural agencies and organisations to help develop the habit among youth.

Talk shows between readers and authors, as well as discussions on reading habits and skills, will be organised.

Book exhibitions and auctions offering old and best-selling books will also be launched on national days and during the Tet (Lunar New Year) holiday.

In April, the Vietnamese Book Day opened on the street as the city's trial experiment in creating the Book Street.

The four-day event called "Tu Hao Lich Su – Vung Buoc Tuong Lai" (Being Proud of Vietnamese History – Stepping Forward to the Future) featured a book fair and exhibition as well as talk shows by popular authors.

It attracted major publishers and distributors such as Kim Dong Publishing House, Phuong Nam Book and Nha Nam. — VNS