Science books struggle to attract readers

Dinh Le Street is a familiar place for Hanoi book lovers. Books of all kinds can easily be found here. But books on science and technology are almost absent. Only a few basic science books for children can be seen in the aisles.

The majority of scientific books available on the market are translated, but the number is quite modest. In the past 11 years, only over 200 quality translated science books have been published from well-known publishers such as Youth Publishing House, Kim Dong, Dong A, and Long Minh. This is because translators often avoid the science stream due to low sales.

To improve the quality of science and technology books, one of the solutions proposed by experts is that scientific books need to catch up with the world’s latest technology trends. In addition, the publishers needs to expand the scope of readers, visualise the scientific content, expand distribution networks, and digitise scientific books to reach a wider audience, especially young readers.