ENG-2002 — Page 487

RECREATION, SPORT AND THE ARTS

its IT Excellence Awards 2001 and the award of the Best of the E-government and Service category in the Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards 2002 presented by the Malaysian Government. It was also a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Award.

Support of Lifelong Learning

The public libraries have collaborated with the Education Department in organising the 'Library Cards for All School Children Scheme', a programme that aims to encourage primary school pupils to fully utilise public library resources in pursuit of lifelong learning. Library staff members have also held regular liaison meetings with school librarians to explore ways to support school curriculum forums. The Open University of Hong Kong has deposited its course materials in 15 public libraries. The public libraries continue to provide supporting library services to the Project Yi Jin education programme. Plans are also under way to set up a Business and Industry Reference Library and an Education Resources Centre at the City Hall Public Library and the Kowloon Public Library, respectively.

Outreach Programmes and Promotion of Literary Arts

Outreach programmes form an integral part of library services. Educational and recreational programmes are organised on a continuing basis to promote library facilities and services, cultivate lifelong reading habits and enhance the public's appreciation of the importance of free access to up-to-date information. Programmes including children's hours, book displays and exhibitions, seminars and thematic talks, interest clubs and group visits were organised throughout the year. User education sessions, such as teaching the public how to search the Online Public Access Catalogue, online databases, the Internet and CD-ROMs, were held regularly. In 2002, the libraries organised a total of 17 451 library outreach programmes.

The public libraries also play an active role in promoting the literary arts. Major literary competitions organised during the year included the Awards for Creative Writing in Chinese, the Chinese Poetry Writing Competition, Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature, Competition on Story Writing in Chinese for Students and the 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival which was jointly organised with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The winning entries in the competitions were published for sale to promote creative writing. So far, the public libraries have published 97 Chinese literary books.

Promotion of Reading

Reading programmes have been launched by the libraries to encourage children and young people to cultivate good reading habits, with reading-related activities organised for participants. During the year, the libraries organised the Story Kingdom exhibition and series of children's programmes to stimulate reading among children and to encourage parents' participation in this. Teens' Book Clubs were organised in the Hong Kong Central Library and five other major libraries. Schools were invited to nominate students to participate in the clubs. The public libraries continued to cooperate with the Po Leung Kuk, the Education Department and Hong Kong IT Education City in organising the 'Read to Enjoy' programme which provided mobile library services to 300 schools without library facilities. The 'Ten Recommended Good Books' programme was launched by the public libraries together with Radio Television Hong Kong.

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