The Ministry of Culture is to mark World Book Day by holding more than 100 events nationwide featuring reading and traveling from today through May 5, Minister of Culture Cheng Li-chiun said on Wednesday.

Reading develops an important facet of a nation’s soft power: its ability to think critically, Cheng told a news conference in Taipei.

The ministry organized the events with 620 institutions to encourage reading and an understanding of Taiwan’s history and culture, she said.

The events combine reading and travel to places featured in books to encourage creativity, freedom and learning, she said.

The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance are also working to revise the guidelines for the procurement of books by public agencies, so that prices would not be driven down by government agencies rewarding the lowest bidder, Cheng said.

After enrolling in an event, participants would go on guided tours while reading a list of recommended books furnished by the event organizer, the culture ministry said in a press release.

National Taiwan Museum is to organize a tour of Taipei that introduces the city’s history, while the National Museum of Taiwan Literature’s tour would focus on agricultural life, pastoral literature and cuisine, it said.

The National Human Rights Museum’s tour concerns the struggles of Aboriginal communities in Alishan during the White Terror era, and would involve the books Hope Violin and The Azalea Mountain Rondo, it said.

Taiwan Friendly Book Supplies Cooperative and Brilliant Time Bookstore are to hold events that focus on bookstores and ethnic minority communities in Taoyuan, while the Chiayi Independent Bookstores Association is to hold a tour of local literary landmarks, it added.