390 Recreation, Sport and the Arts
Books Registration Office
The Books Registration Office helps to preserve Hong Kong's literary heritage by registering local publications and monitoring the use of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) System. It publishes 'A Catalogue of Books Printed in Hong Kong' in the Government Gazette on a quarterly basis, which can be accessed through the Internet. In 2007, the office registered 14 136 books and 13 751 periodicals, and 687 new publisher prefixes.
Sport and Recreation
More and more Hong Kong people are taking up sports and using public recreational facilities nowadays. The LCSD develops and manages these facilities which include sports grounds, playgrounds, sports centres, holiday camps, water sports centres, swimming pools and beaches. It also organises training courses, sporting competitions and other activities for people of all ages and abilities, and encourages passive recreation by providing parks and landscaped open spaces for people to enjoy.
In addition, the LCSD administers subventions provided to 25 camps and sea activity centres run by 12 non-governmental organisations. Some 821 000 people participated in activities organised by these camps and sea activity centres during the
year.
The LCSD is also the authority responsible for issuing and renewing licences for places of amusement. During the year, the LCSD processed 76 applications for billiards halls, eight for public bowling alleys and seven for skating rinks.
Hong Kong Sports Institute Limited
The Hong Kong Sports Institute Limited was established on October 1, 2004 to provide an environment in which sports talent can be identified, nurtured and developed. Other than sports facilities, the support given to athletes includes elite coaching and training, sports science, sports medicine, education, applied research and sports information. Thirteen sports are covered by the Elite Training Programme at the institute athletics, badminton, cycling, fencing, rowing, squash, swimming, table tennis, tennis, tenpin bowling, triathlon, windsurfing and wushu.
The institute also supports outstanding athletes of other sports under the Individual Athletes Support Scheme and the Disabled Sports
the Disabled Sports Elite Training Programme. During the year, the institute focused on the preparation of athletes for two multi-sports games (6th National City Games and 2nd Asian Indoor Games) and planning for the redevelopment of the institute after the staging of the 2008 Olympic Equestrian Events.
Sporting Achievements
Hong Kong athletes have been outstanding in different international and regional sports events. In 2007, they won a total of 204 gold, 167 silver and 206
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