This is an excerpt from the participation in the 2023 Reading Cultural Ambassador competition in Can Tho City by Nguyen Quoc Vinh, a student at Vinh Thanh High School, Vinh Thanh District. Quoc Vinh affirmed that: "Building a strong reading culture that prioritizes reading in improving the quality of education is extremely important. A creative and interesting reading culture not only creates capable readers but also promotes community engagement and student achievement."

When asked about developing a reading promotion plan for the community, Quoc Vinh proposed feasible solutions such as raising awareness, creating reading spaces, establishing Reading Culture clubs, investing in and upgrading facilities, and using social media. With these outstanding ideas, Nguyen Quoc Vinh was one of the two students to receive the Reading Cultural Ambassador in Can Tho City. Nguyen Quoc Vinh shared: "The Reading Cultural Ambassador competition in Can Tho City provides an opportunity for students to express their love for books and helps spread the habit of reading and love for books to everyone."

The second Reading Cultural Ambassador in Can Tho City is Nguyen Gia An, a student at Le Binh Secondary School, Cai Rang District. In response to the creative writing task on promoting reading, Gia An wrote the short story "Grandma Knows Best," revolving around a conversation between a grandmother and her grandchild, evoking emotions about the bond between them and the benefits of reading. With its concise plot, easy grasp, gentle tone, and emotional content suitable for the age group, "Grandma Knows Best" by Gia An captivated readers.

In 2019, for the first time, Can Tho City was one of six localities nationwide selected by the Library Department, Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism to organize the Reading Cultural Ambassador competition. The 2023 competition had a change compared to previous years, as it was only held in localities (instead of holding local preliminary rounds and selecting entries for the national final round). Nevertheless, the competition still created a lively atmosphere and received enthusiastic responses from schools.

Mr. Le Thanh Binh, Director of the Can Tho City Library, stated: The 2023 Reading Cultural Ambassador competition in Can Tho City was held from April 10 to June 10, 2023, attracting a total of 5,788 entries from students at 64 high schools, secondary schools, and primary schools in the city. The competition had two topics: writing reflections on books and creating a literary work promoting reading or developing a reading culture plan in the community.

Notably, many students demonstrated depth and determination in developing feasible reading culture development plans that suited the reality of their learning and living environments. For example, schools need to promote books during the weekly flag ceremony and create convenient reading corners in the school... Many students emphasized solutions to raise awareness among various sectors and levels about reading culture development; establishing clubs, organizing activities to promote reading culture; setting up "Zero-Dong Bookshelves" in public places... The application of information technology and the use of social media to develop a reading culture was also mentioned by many students.

Mr. Binh stated: This year, many new and good solutions were presented by students, such as researching and surveying annual reading in schools to create long-term plans; promoting the role of Vietnamese language departments, and library staff in schools; using phones, and laptops to read e-books... "This shows that students are interested and eager to contribute to the development of reading culture in the community, starting with their schools," emphasized Mr. Binh.

Instead of holding the competition summary and award ceremony at the Can Tho City Library as usual, this year the Organizing Committee organized a warm and large-scale summary event at Vinh Thanh Town Secondary School, Vinh Thanh District, attracting a large number of students. In addition to displaying the entries and award-winning works, the city library also organized a multimedia mobile library to serve students. Through this, students were immersed in the atmosphere of books and reading culture, encouraging them to engage with books. As the Reading Cultural Ambassador in Can Tho City, Nguyen Quoc Vinh said, a creative and interesting reading culture contributes to creating capable readers.