The holiday was a bonanza for bookworms
Print Edition
For some Songjiang residents, the recent Spring Festival was a relaxing time to catch up on their reading.
To accommodate the bookworms, the Songjiang District Library remained open to the public during the weeklong holiday. Some 1,500 people walked through the doors every day and 1,000 books were loaned out daily.
Rooms in the library were teeming with readers, overflowing available seating. That didn’t stop library-goers. Many just parked themselves on the floor in corners and got lost in their books.
Librarians said middle-age readers seemed to prefer books on history and healthcare, while teenagers took to the classics and books on nature. Many white-collar workers facing certification exams came to the library to bone up on their professional knowledge.
To celebrate the onset of the Year of the Sheep, the library gave away 650 books as New Year’s gifts to readers. It also aired free movies for migrant workers who weren’t able to return to other provinces to be with their families during the Chinese New Year.
The Xinhua bookstore chain also did brisk business during the holiday. Shops in Mediterranean Commercial Square and in the Pinggao World Trade Center in Songjiang reported a 40-percent increase in customers and a 19 percent surge in sales.
Popular dramas and films such as “You Are My Sunshine” and “The Wolf Totem” drove sales of their namesake novels, bookshop staff said. Books by Han Han, a best-selling Shanghai author, sold out during the festival.
The two bookstores completed renovation work and reopened to the public just ahead of the holiday. A series of promotions offered bargains to book buyers, and special gifts were provided for youngsters. One father, with his child in tow, said he buys books so his son will develop a love of reading.
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