Akmaral Smagulova: "A person who reads a book never loses"

Within the framework of President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev's initiative "Development of book-reading culture and formation of an intelligent nation", works in the direction of promotion of book-reading, glorification of spiritual values ​​and formation of reader's culture are systematically carried out in the country.

Within the framework of this good initiative, the librarian of Shakarim University Aray Kazgasym interviewed Akmaral Smagulova, a scientist, candidate of philological sciences, head of the scientific center "Abay and National Spirituality" of Shakarim University, who is making a significant contribution to the research of the heritage of Abai and Shakarim, who are considered the golden backbone of Kazakh spirituality.

During the conversation, the culture of reading books, glorification of national values, the importance of Abai's heritage in today's society and the spiritual development of young people were discussed. We present this interview to your attention.

- Akmaral Toleugazyvna, how important do you think the initiative of the Head of State Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to develop the reading culture is for young people?

- Of course, any initiative that encourages reading is very important for the future intellectual generation. I believe that the head of the state paying special attention to the formation of reading culture in the society and putting forward the idea of ​​educating an intelligent nation is an important step towards the future.

A nation that reads books never loses. The future of any country, the one who promotes its progress, is its youth. Therefore, the development of young people to be thoughtful, educated and inquisitive is directly related to books. Alash activist Magzhan Zhumabaev's "I believe in youth!" Behind the words lies great hope for the future of the nation.

If the young generation finds the knowledge they are looking for in books, enriches their spiritual wealth through books, and expands their worldview with books - this will be a strong guarantee for the bright future of our country. A person who reads a book never loses.

- What effect does reading have on personal development?

- A book is a person's secret and intelligence. A person who reads a book is happy with the character, sad with him, compares with his own life, draws conclusions. The hero learns from his fate and imbibes good qualities. Therefore, the book is a great force that enriches the inner world of a person and forms him as a person. I can give you a simple example from my life. This is not a longing for the Soviet period, but it is known that our childhood passed in parallel with that time.

My parents lived in a farm center with only about twenty houses. In that small village there was a clubhouse that could accommodate about thirty people, a medical center and a library. All farm workers used to take books from the library and read. From the baskets of our grandfathers and brothers, who were tending sheep, I saw "The Way of Abay" with a worn outer cover, I saw "Blood and sweat", I saw "Love is full of interesting years". At that time, the circulation of the book was tens of thousands of copies. And today, we are happy with the book, which has been published in a thousand copies. The fact that books do not reach remote villages is also a problem to think about.

- If you share three books you have read recently...

- I would like to say the books that I recommend reading rather than the works that I have read recently. Shakarim's poems are something that I return to and read every day. It has become my life skill to turn the pages of the poet's works again and again and find new ideas in each line. And if I were to recommend it to young people, I would advise them to read Mukhtar Magavin's "Yellow Cossack", Tolen Abdik's "Parasat Maydan" and Leo Tolstoy's story "Buddha". This work was translated into Kazakh by Mukhtar Auezov in 1918 and published in "Abay" magazine. In general, I believe that this work is one of the works that contribute to the respect and humility of human beings, to value humanity and spiritual wealth regardless of nationality and language.

- What is the responsibility of the family and educational organizations in the formation of the reading culture?

- The love for books is first of all formed in the family. The child repeats the actions of adults. If books are read at home, stories about books are told, reading becomes a way of life for a child.

And the task of educational organizations is to develop and deepen this interest, to encourage the development of the culture of reading in the child to study. School and university should be not only an educational environment, but also a space for thinking, searching, forming a spiritually rich personality.

- You are a teacher who has been educating many students. How do you assess the reading culture and interest in literature among today's youth?

- In today's society, the similar opinion that "Young people do not read" is often expressed. I cannot agree with this view. Young people read. Only their reading skills and literary taste are formed differently from the understanding of our generation. Today's young people are interested in world literature, search for and read works based on modern thought, pay special attention to books aimed at self-development. At the same time, we notice that the interest in works of national content is increasing. For example, there are many young people who specially search for and read books such as "Beisenbay and Literary Front" and "Kanyish and Scientific Front" offered by "Otbasy Chrestomatiyas".

Not only students studying philology or Kazakh language and literature, but also young people from other fields actively participate, exchange opinions and analyze works together in the "Abay club" circle, which I lead.

In general, today's generation has many opportunities. They read digitally without necessarily buying from a bookstore. The most important thing is that although the form of reading culture has changed, I think that the interest in books has not disappeared.

- If Abay were to give one advice to today's youth, what do you think it would be?

- This is really not an easy question. Because Abai is a spiritual teacher not only of one era, but of all humanity. It is difficult to single out just one idea from his rich heritage. However, I think that one of the values ​​that is especially needed in today's society is morality. If I had to choose only one commandment of Abai, I would mention his eloquent words: "Love all mankind, call them brothers." This is a deep philosophical position not only for the poet, but for all mankind. If this idea is firmly established in the minds of people, the terrible events happening in the society would also decrease. I believe that Abay's greatness lies in his call to love a person first of all as a person, without dividing them by nationality, language, or race.

- Thank you for the interview!