Azerbaijan celebrates Book Lovers Day

Books can change our lives and inspire millions of readers. Apart from that, book reading reduces stress and boosts creativity.

Every year August 9 is celebrated around the world as the Book Lovers Day, which immediately gained fans in many parts of the world and became an international holiday.

On the eve of Book Lovers Day, TikTok has invited Azerbaijani users to share creative literature-themed videos using the #booktokazerbaijan hashtag, Azernews reports.

The virtual holiday is a continuation of the #kitabfest literary initiative, which was launched in the spring and has already gained more than 13 million views on TikTok.

TikTok, the leading platform for watching and creating short videos, continues its initiative to encourage users in Azerbaijan to read and discover new literary works. In honor of the international holiday of book lovers, users of the platform in Azerbaijan were invited to reveal one of four literary topics in their videos using the hashtag #booktokazerbaijan. Users can share favorite book recommendations, excerpts from favorites, new book reviews, personal stories related to books, and discuss literature in a format that suits them.

The launch of the TikTok #kitabfest literary initiative was timed to coincide with the National Book Fair in Baku. Users have shared recommendations for books that have been filmed, showcased their home libraries, book collections, filmed book reviews, and more.

The significant scope of the project and the creative approach to creating videos demonstrate the growing interest of users in reading and the great potential for developing quality literary content on TikTok.

It should be noted that the TikTok literary project in Azerbaijan is inspired by the global cultural phenomenon #BookTok, which has united literature lovers around the world.

Videos under this hashtag have already gained more than 163 billion views on TikTok. In the videos, users from different countries share their recommendations and impressions about the books they read.

#BookTok is also having an impact on the book industry, enabling writers to become popular and books to hit the bestseller lists. People are increasingly choosing books based on TikTok reviews.

Note that Azerbaijan always looks for more ways to encourage reading. Over 150 publishing houses are operating in the country.

Azerbaijan National Library is a great place to enjoy reading in the peaceful and cozy atmosphere.

Established in 1922, the library is a treasure trove of knowledge for bookworms.

With over 5 million books, manuscripts, maps, Azerbaijan National Library is considered one of the largest libraries in the Caucasus region. Since 1939, the library has borne the name of the eminent playwright Mirza Fatali Akhundov.

The library has an extensive collection of literature in Azerbaijani, Russian, English and other languages. It has collected and preserved national editions, works of Azerbaijani and foreign authors about Azerbaijan published abroad. The National Leader Heydar Aliyev visited the National Library four times in 1995-1997 and donated nearly 300 books from his personal library.

In 2004, Mirza Fatali Akhundov Library was granted the status of National Library by the decision of the Cabinet of Ministers.

Moreover, a campaign "Let's go to Karabakh with a book" has been launched in the country.

Initiated by the Culture Ministry and the National Library, the campaign focuses on the restoration of libraries in Karabakh region.

A large number of books have been already donated to the Karabakh book fund by a number of international organizations working in the field of culture, Turkic-speaking countries, famous foreign and local authors, publishers, and print houses.