Children Read in Seasons (CRIS)

Launched by the National Library of China Children’s Library (hereinafter referred to as NLC Children’s Library) in February 2023, the Children Read in Seasons (hereinafter referred to as CRIS) is a nationwide reading promotion initiative. It is aimed at sparking the passion of reading among children aged 0 to 15 and improving their reading ability with new arrivals in the collection as well as a variety of reading activities.

At the beginning of each season, CRIS would select about 30 books among the new collection according to experts’ advice and children’s reading interest to customise its quarterly reading promotion plan. Besides traditional reading-related events, CRIS would launch interactive reading activities on the social media platforms of NLC Children’s Library. For instance, a book review contest for librarians and an online programme for children entitled “Pick Your Favorite Book in CRIS” were launched on the NLC Children’s Library WeChat public account.

In fact, CRIS went far beyond an NLC Children’s Library-based project. It also worked as an outreach committed to promote nationwide reading with joint efforts by libraries, schools, publishers as well as experts on children’s reading. Since its launch, CRIS has established a partnership with more than 170 libraries in 25 provinces, such as Jiangxi Provincial Library, Jilin Provincial Library, Fujian Juvenile & Children’s Library, Chongqing Children’s Library, and Guangzhou Children’s Library. Under the cooperative framework, CRIS‘s reading promotion activities were held at both the NLC Children’s Library and its partners’ venues. From February to April 2023, CRIS’s reading promotion events were rolled out across the country. Tens of thousands of children took part in CRIS’s reading promotion activities such as its storytelling club, Spring Reading Challenges, lectures as well as exhibitions in the libraries. In addition, CRIS attracted more than 100 publishers to its children reading promotion initiative to share their resources. A number of renowned authors and editors along with the children reading promoters were engaged not only in CRIS‘s events in libraries but also in its activities in schools.

Li Xiaoming, the Director of the NLC Children’s Library, described the visions of this project, “we hope that CRIS will spark the reading interest in children with its multi-thematic booklists and its creative reading promotion activities. Meanwhile, we are able to build a more inclusive and influential service system for children reading promotion in China.”

Contributed by the National Library of China Children’s Library.