As people become more and more attached to smart phones, fewer people say they spend time reading for pleasure.

Author James Marriott wrote: “Where previous entertainment technologies like cinema or television were intended to capture their audience’s attention for a period, the smartphone demands your entire life. Phones are designed to be hyper-addictive, hooking users on a diet of pointless notifications, inane short-form videos and social media rage bait.”

The Richmond Public Library system hopes to counter that phenomenon. RPL, in addition to offering books to check out, sponsors a number of events to help the Richmond community get back to reading.

Sunday's event will be the seventh edition of its "Read Up Richmond" series. This annual event, as its website notes, “challenges people to read courageously, listen thoughtfully, and connect meaningfully.”

Adam Zimmerli, the library and community services manager, has been on the Read Up Richmond committee since it began seven years ago. The committee is tasked with bringing in notable authors for discussion and to increase readership in the community.

“We choose authors whose works are timely, with themes that reflect what’s going on in the world’s current events,” Zimmerli said. “We choose books and authors to get people in the Richmond community out of their comfort zones by reading works they wouldn’t otherwise.”

In short, Zimmerli said, Read Up Richmond is getting more people to read.

Past authors who participated in Read Up Richmond have included New York Times best-selling author Dolen Perkins-Valdez, S.A. Cosby, an Anthony Award-winning writer from Southeastern Virginia, and James McBride, an award-winning author, musician, and screenwriter whose landmark memoir The Color of Water has sold millions of copies and spent more than two years on the New York Times bestseller list.

For this year’s event, taking place on Sunday, author Kevin Nguyen will be discussing his novel My Documents with Emma Ito, Director of Education at Virginia Humanities.

Ito is responsible for the development, coordination, and implementation of educational resources for K-12 students, college students, teachers, and lifelong learners that includes getting people to read.

“It’s important that our events are set up as a discussion,” Zimmerli said. “We want it to be more conversational. We chose Emma to facilitate the discussion with Kevin because she has special insight working on the Asian-American experience.”

My Documents, Nguyen’s second novel, is inspired by real-life events, from Japanese incarceration to the Vietnam War and modern-day immigrant detention, all issues that are relevant to current events.

The novel is indeed a page-turner, a delightful novel, and, as the publisher notes, “a strangely funny and touching portrait of American ambition, fear, and family.”

As with past Read Up Richmond events, this is an opportunity to hear directly from a respected author, ask questions, and connect with others interested in the timely and thought-provoking issues raised in the book.

The event is free to attend, though registration is recommended.

“My Documents is a great read,” Zimmerli said. “I anticipate a big turnout like our past Read Up Richmond events.”

Read Up Richmond will take place Sunday at the Main Branch of the Richmond Public Library at 2 p.m. The discussion will be followed by a question-and-answer session, and copies of the author’s novel will be available to purchase.