Reading culture is not just about opening a book, it’s about how one seeks, reflects on, and applies knowledge. Yet today, at many universities in Hanoi, students no longer frequent libraries or read printed newspapers. Studying, researching materials, or reading stories or specialized books is mostly done via phones and computers.

Nhu Quynh, a third-year student at Hanoi National University of Education, said she only reads about three paper books a year because she mainly uses her iPad to read and take notes quickly, which is more convenient than carrying books.

Although only reading a few printed books each year, Quynh said she still regularly researches over 20 academic PDF documents and reads specialized articles. This shows that instead of losing reading habits, many students are shifting reading from traditional to digital forms, which are seen as faster and more convenient.

The internet is also a “double-edged knife”: many students only skim or watch summaries, and easily lose concentration due to social media and short videos.

Hai Long, a student at a university in Cau Giay (Hanoi), said: “I intend to go online to find materials, but then get drawn into watching video clips and reading comments on Facebook. When I try to come back to work, the whole session is gone. Now I read much less and not as deeply as before.”

Not a few students consider reading paper books “old-fashioned”. Others face obstacles in time, book purchase costs, or simply no longer have enough patience to sit and read for long.

New reading culture

However, it cannot be denied that today's students are creating a new form of reading culture.

The Vietnam National University Hanoi Library (VNU) reported that in 2021-2023, the school's digital library system recorded over 77.6 million visits, more than three times higher than 2020 (23.6 million s). By 2025, VNU Library has served over 142 million interactions and uses. These figures show students are increasingly proactive in exploiting electronic learning materials for study and research.

In addition to expanding digital data, libraries also regularly organize activities like “Book Day” and “One good book per week” to encourage students to return to paper books and practice deep reading in the technology era.

Not only reading online, many students combine both forms. They use platforms like Google Books, Wattpad or Kindle to read quickly, but still buy favorite books to keep, mark and contemplate.

According to Huong Huyen, a student at Hanoi University of Commerce, maintaining reading culture in the digital age is not just “reading a lot”, but more importantly, reading selectively, reading to understand and knowing how to apply.

Huyen shared that amid countless technology temptations, each person can start with small actions like dedicating 15-30 minutes daily to long content without interruption, limiting social media time, or joining book clubs to exchange and spread the learning spirit and love for knowledge.

At Hanoi University, HANU Book Club regularly organizes “Book Talk” series for students to read, discuss and share feelings about meaningful books. This activity helps ignite interest in reading, create connection spaces and help students learn to listen, debate and view issues multi-dimensionally.

Education PhD Nguyen Thi Thu Huyen believes the rise of social media and short content not only affects students but also impacts children and adults. 

Frequent exposure to fast information reduces many people's concentration when reading long texts and written information processing capacity. When losing patience for deep reading, learners gradually lose interest, perceptiveness, and self-study capacity, the core elements of reading culture.

However, along with that change, a new way of reading is taking shape. Today's students read more flexibly, using technology to access knowledge anytime and anywhere through many forms like e-books or audiobooks. However, listening to books cannot completely replace reading, because only when reading - noting - underlining - reflecting, readers can truly understand and remember knowledge.

Huyen believes that building reading culture needs to start early, from preschool and primary levels. For students, to revive this habit, the important thing is finding a community or “reading tribe”, where people have the same interests and goals, encouraging each other to maintain reading. “No need to read a lot right away, just a few pages daily from favorite books, then gradually increase. The important thing is regularity”, she said.

Tu Anh