The fourth Pingshan Natural History Book Award ceremony is held Nov. 4 at Pingshan Library. Photos from the organizer

The Pingshan subvenue of Shenzhen Reading Month was launched Nov. 4 at the Pingshan Library, with the fourth Pingshan Natural History Book Award ceremony held to mark the beginning of nearly 300 reading activities this month.

The award organizing committee received 186 natural history-related book submissions from 43 domestic publishing houses, experts and reader recommendations from October 2022 to October 2023. A panel of experts selected a shortlist of 100 books, 30 excellent books, and five winners based on the book theme, scientific content, readability and other criteria.

The Pingshan Natural History Book Award is organized by the Publicity Department of the Pingshan District Committee of the CPC and the Culture, Radio, Television, Tourism, and Sports Bureau of Pingshan District. Since its inception in 2020, it has been held successfully for four sessions, making it the first domestic award for natural history books.

Pingshan Library

Over the four editions, the event has selected 20 award-winning books, 40 recommended books by the jury, 120 excellent books, and 400 shortlisted books from over 1,000 natural history books published in the past five years.

The award has had a significant impact on establishing an excellent reading brand in the city and even across the country, serving as a trendsetter for natural history publishing in China. In July, the Pingshan Natural History Book Award was recognized as a reading promotion case in 2023, standing out among over 300 reading promotion cases submitted by libraries, publishing houses, bookstores and other institutions nationwide.