This fall semester is the first semester after the implementation of the "double reduction" policy. From reducing students' excessive homework burden to comprehensively regulating off-campus training behavior, to the new regulations issued by China's State Press and Publication Administration to prevent minors from indulging in online games, the implementation of a series of new policies has further reduced the pressure on children and adolescents. The time for self-planning has increased, and returning to extracurricular reading may become an important choice for many primary and secondary school students to enrich their extracurricular lives.
【The reading rate of minors has increased, and the concept of reading has been deeply rooted in the hearts of the people】
Books are the ladder of human progress. Reading good books can help children expand their knowledge and form healthy personalities and values.
In recent years, the reading concept of "reading more books and reading good books" has become increasingly popular. According to the data of the 18th National Reading Survey, the book reading rate of minors of all ages has shown a steady growth trend. The report shows that in 2020, the per capita reading volume of books for minors in China will be 10.71.
Compared with the data of ten years ago, the reading volume of books for minors of all ages in China has increased significantly. Among them, children aged 0-8 saw the largest increase in reading, from 4.78 to 10.02, more than quadrupled in ten years.
On the other hand, digital reading has become an important way for citizens to read. According to the survey, in 2020, 49.9% of adult citizens prefer to use mobile phones, e-readers, or online reading in the form of reading. Minors' reading habits are greatly affected by the family and the surrounding environment, especially for younger children, the parents' example and demonstration are important objects for their imitation and learning. The data shows that the contact rate of minors' digital reading methods has reached 72.3%.
But there are also some negative effects of digital reading. The characteristics of content fragmentation, popularization, and even pan-entertainment can easily lead to a decline in people's analytical ability. For minors who are still in the development stage, they should be more vigilant about the impact that premature and excessive exposure to digital reading may have on the development of vision.
【Scale expansion and development is good, children's book market can be expected in the future】
Since entering the 21st century, China's children's book publishing has seen a "blowout" development scene, achieving high-speed growth for many years, and industry experts have called the arrival of China's "children's book era".
"Code Ocean" is a term used by the book publishing and distribution department to refer to the total pricing of all books, which can reflect the size of the book market. According to the data provided by Beijing Open Volume, from 2000 to 2019, the proportion of the children's book market has risen all the way, and the scale of China's children's book retail market has gradually expanded. In 2020, affected by the epidemic, the scale of the national book retail market for the first time showed a negative growth of -5.08%, while the proportion of children's books still maintained a slight growth of 1.96%.
From the exploratory stage to maturity, children's books have become one of the most eye-catching segments of the book market. In 2016, children's books surpassed social science and became the largest section of the book retail market. By 2020, the proportion of children's books in the book retail market will be 28.31%, which will undoubtedly become an important part of China's book market.
There are many kinds of children's works. In 2020, among the children's works, the top three categories with the largest scale of code yang are children's literature, children's science encyclopedia and children's picture books, and the proportion of code yang is 23.71%, 21.42% and 18.56% respectively. Compared with 2019, the proportion of children's science encyclopedia, early childhood enlightenment and game puzzle categories showed an upward trend. Among them, the proportion of children's science encyclopedia books and children's picture books has expanded significantly. At present, the children's book market has shown a trend of rapid development from children's literature occupying an absolute dominant position to children's picture books + children's science popularization.
Even affected by the epidemic, the children's book market is still alive. After this year's blockbuster policy "double reduction", the children's book industry may usher in major changes and develop towards a higher level.
[Pay attention to practical problems and contribute to the road of children's reading]
On the road to high-quality development, there are still urgent problems to be solved in China's children's book publishing. At present, the per capita ownership of publications for children is not high, and the development of children's books is unbalanced and insufficient. There are few new works on the market, and the originality is insufficient.
According to statistics, in 2019, China published about 44,000 kinds of children's books, with a total printed number of more than 900 million copies. However, according to the 2019 children's book bestseller list released by the open volume company, most of the works on the list are new editions of classic books, new works of best-selling series, and new works of famous artists, and new books created by new authors are rare. In the first half of 2021, China published 2989 new varieties of children's literature books, which was recovered compared with the same period in 2020, but it was still less than the same period in 2019.
Children's libraries are an important part of China's library industry, and strengthening the construction of children's libraries is an important measure to protect the cultural rights and interests of minors and establish and improve the public cultural service system. As an important place for children to read and a second classroom for minors, the construction of children's libraries in China still has problems such as unbalanced regional development and inability to meet the growing spiritual and cultural needs of minors.
From the passage of the Law of the People's Republic of China on Public Libraries in 2017 to the Issuance of the National Public Library Development Plan for the 13th Five-Year Plan Period issued by the Ministry of Culture, more and more people have paid attention to the value of children's libraries for children's physical and mental development and attached importance to the construction of children's libraries. In May 2019, the General Office of the CPC Central Committee and the General Office of the State Council issued the Opinions on Accelerating the Construction of a Modern Public Cultural Service System, proposing to establish a linkage mechanism between urban and rural areas of public cultural services, improve the guarantee mechanism for the free opening of public cultural facilities, and accelerate the digital construction of public cultural institutions to help the further development of children's libraries.
Reading is the main way for children to acquire knowledge, develop thinking, and form aesthetics, and it is also an important way for children to understand the world and themselves. Cao Wenxuan, a well-known Chinese children's literature writer who won the International Public Security Apprentice Award, once wrote: Whether it is from the theme of writing, the style of presentation, or from the perspective of the readers faced and the impact, children's literature is an extremely broad field.
Excellent children's books bring a beautiful reading experience into children's after-school life, bury rich emotions in children's hearts, and carry the important mission of developing the personality of children and teenagers. At the same time, as an important part of Chinese culture, with the continuous deepening of China's international cultural exchanges and the continuous improvement of the level of literary works, Chinese children's books will gradually show their strong vitality. Speaking out to the world on more and more occasions, showing Chinese cultural self-confidence.
Editor: Ma Lulu Sun Shiqi (Intern) Design: Chen Shen Sun Shiqi (Intern)
Source: Central Government Portal, Ministry of Culture and Tourism of the People's Republic of China, National Bureau of Statistics, Xinhua Net, People's Net, China National Reading Network, Beijing Open Volume
【Error correction】【Responsible editor: Li Ran】