19/12 Street in Hoan Kiem district will become Hanoi’s first book street in December.

The book street will be officially opened on December 19, known as the First Indochina War Day, when the French renewed hostilities against Vietnam on December 19, 1946.

City leaders are considering hanging bookshelves on street walls to help people collect books more easily and create more space for readers. 

There will also be events to introduce interesting books and also talk shows on books.

The funding for creating the book street and organizing related events will come from the city’s budget. 

The Hanoi Department of Information and Communications will be responsible for managing the content of books. Book stalls are available for publishers and booksellers at a fee.

At the beginning of this year Ho Chi Minh City introduced its own book street. In six months more than 200,000 books were sold and revenue of VND15 billion ($673,845) earned.

Besides the book street, Hanoi leaders are also considering mobile boọk streets with mobile book stalls whose design must be suitable with the beauty of Hoan Kiem Lake. 

Book streets create a unique part of pedestrian malls and will stimulate a reading culture among people in the city.

The book street is part of plans by Hanoi to maximize cultural values in the city. It also plans more vehicle-free streets in Hoan Kiem district. Streets being considered are Dinh Tien Hoang, Le Thai To, Hang Khay, Le Lai, Le Thach, Dinh Le, Nguyen Xi, Trang Tien (from Ngo Quyen to Dinh Tien Hoang), Le Thai To, and Hang Trong (from the Opera House to Le Thai To).

Reviewing the efficiency of the existing pedestrian mall in the Old Quarter, Mr. Dang Dinh Bang, Head of the Management Board of the Old Quarter, said it has dramatically developed tourism activities. 

Initially, people in Luong Ngoc Quyen, Hang Buom, and Ma May protested the ban on vehicles but after just a short period time the streets were bursting with visitors.

The pedestrian malls have created jobs for people in the Old Quarter, according to Mr. Pham Tuan Long, Deputy Chairman of the Hanoi People’s Committee. 

He estimated that about 98 per cent of people in the area have left their previous jobs to become involved in tourism.

Hanoi recently passed a new tourism decree with a target of welcoming 30 million tourists by 2020, including 5.7 million international arrivals, for an annual increase of 8 to 10 per cent. 

In 2016 it has targeted welcoming 21.165 million tourists, including 3.8 international tourists, and to earn revenue of VND60 trillion ($2.69 billion).

VN Economic Times