【Reported from Kaohsiung】On April 26, the Kaohsiung Public Library (KPL) held the opening ceremony for “Reading Through Life, Changing the World: Reading x Board Game Market” to celebrate World Book and Copyright Day. Among the guests attending the ceremony were General Manager Sheng-Hong Jhuang of the Hakka Public Communication Foundation (HPCF); Vice President Ming-Yuan Sun of Chunghwa Telecom’s Kaohsiung Branch Office; Director Cuei-Ling Syu from the Academic Affairs Office of the Affiliated Senior High School of National Kaohsiung Normal University (ASHS); Director Yi-Mei Su of the Spiritual Corner Counseling Center; as well as Zih-Ciao Chen and Jing-Yi Syu, teachers from Zhongshan Elementary School and Fushan Elementary School, respectively, who brought their students along. 

During the ceremony, Yong-Ci Chen, a student from Fushan Elementary School, surprised the audience with an impromptu B-Box performance, instantly taking the event’s atmosphere to new heights with his talent. Accompanied by guests, KPL Director Chin-Yang Lee untangled the ribbon on the giant dice-like gift box, releasing balloons of various colors that marked the official opening of the two-day event organized for the World Book and Copyright Day.

Picture 1: During the opening ceremony of KPL’s World Book and Copyright Day event, KPL Director Chin-Yang Lee (fourth from the right), HPCF General Manager Sheng-Hong Jhuang (third from the left), and Chunghwa Telecom’s Kaohsiung Branch Office Vice President Ming-Yuan Sun (second from the left) announced the beginning of the event together.

According to KPL Director Chin-Yang Lee, World Book and Copyright Day emphasizes the extensive benefits of reading in enriching one’s knowledge and wisdom. This year, KPL combines reading with board games to demonstrate its potential for joyful fun. The event featured over 50 stalls offering a variety of activities, including board games, murder mystery games, and widely-known IP works such as Dungeons and Dragons and The Call of Cthulhu.

Additionally, KPL invited various institutions such as HPCF, Chunghwa Telecom’s Hami Book, and ASHS’s Filial Piety Education Resource Center to partake in efforts to promote reading. The event also provided a platform to showcase the characteristic board games from KPL’s various branch libraries. Director Lee expressed gratitude to all involved parties for their efforts and diligence in demonstrating the fun and joy one could experience through reading in multiple ways. KPL hopes to continue encouraging citizens to read more extensively and acquire knowledge across diverse fields through fun educational activities.

According to General Manager Sheng-Hong Jhuang, HPCF organizes Hakka-related events and activities throughout Taiwan, engaging citizens through live streams, remotely controlled drones, and radio broadcasts. HPCF’s participation in KPL’s board game market marks the foundation’s first time visiting the Kaohsiung Main Public Library as well as engaging with and broadcasting alongside citizens.

Picture 2: HPCF organizes Hakka-related events and activities throughout Taiwan, engaging citizens through live streams, remotely controlled drones, and radio broadcasts. April 26th marks HPCF’s first time broadcasting at the Kaohsiung Main Public Library and engaging with citizens.

For the event, HPCF prepared various interesting board games for the visitors. A notable example is a VR game that enabled citizens to explore a Hakka village directly from the event’s venue. These activities elevate learning into fun experiences. At the same time, they become valuable media for language and cultural heritage.

Vice President Ming-Yuan Sun of Chunghwa Telecom’s Kaohsiung Branch Office also remarked on the event's significance. For Vice President Sun, reading is a lifelong habit one must pursue from a young age and maintain throughout one's twilight years. Now that e-books are widely available, one must simply have a tablet to read anywhere, anytime. Such facilities have made reading more convenient, as experienced firsthand by citizens visiting the board game market during the weekend. Vice President Sun hoped reading would continue to help more individuals revive their youthful spirits.

In addition to collaborating with ASHS, Zhongshan Elementary School, and Fushan Elementary School, KPL joined hands with Chunghwa Telecom’s Hami Book and HPCF in promoting various values and products, spanning from filial piety and parent education, e-books, and the Hakka language. HPCF’s mobile broadcast studio further enriched the event. KPL Director Lee and Fushan Elementary School’s Jing-Yi Syu even had the opportunity to record an episode in the studio together. These on-air radio facilities enabled visitors to better understand the mobile broadcast studio’s mission to disseminate and foster Hakka values throughout Taiwan by exploring its local cultures and stories. Hakka singer Yong-Tao Chen was specially invited to perform, sparking a warm and heartfelt connection between the audience and their mother tongue at an event filled with joy and a passion for reading.

Picture 3: KPL Director Chin-Yang Lee announcing this year’s World Book and Copyright Day event at KPL during HPCF’s broadcast.

The afternoon of the 26th was filled with speeches and discussion sessions. Fushan Elementary School’s Jing-Yi Syu and her son, Yong-Ci Chen, discussed their experiences using board games to battle smartphone overuse. Zih-Ciao Chen from Zhongshan Elementary School talked about the benefits of board games in fostering parent-child relationships and improving their communication through parent education. In addition to the two teachers, KPL invited board game illustrators, designers, and publishing agency founders to be speakers during the two-day event. As experts in their respective fields, the speakers offered glimpses into the design, manufacturing, and even practical gaming process in board game production. On April 27, KPL invited a counseling psychologist who guided the audience in exploring the impact of board games on interpersonal relationships and parent-child communication, as well as their potential future development.

In addition to board games, event stalls featured AR activities, e-books, delicious cuisine, and special book collections from each KPL branch library. The branch library stalls offered a range of enjoyable interactive activities on various topics, including indigenous culture, Southeast Asian culture, forest preservation, inclusive toys, digital opportunity centers, dementia, and many more. KPL’s efforts to promote reading and its collaboration with various institutions have integrated diverse expertise and enriched the board game market.

Pictures 4 and 5: On April 26 and 27, KPL’s board game market offered children opportunities to try out a diverse selection of board games.