After the contest was launched at her school, Phuong Mai enthusiastically attended. “As I found the topic interesting, I spent time doing the test”, said Mai. Mai carefully prepared for the 7-page paper in both content and design.

At the question asking contestants to create a story or poetry encouraging people to read, Mai wrote a story about the ignored books and their journey to find right owners who can respect and use them effectively.

Director of the provincial Library Nguyen Dac Hong gives the first prize to Tang Thi Phuong Mai.

Mai shared, she found some people especially students not respect or protect books. Hence, she tried putting herself into a position of the ignored books to call for the attention of the community to reading culture.

In line with creating the story, Mai drew an illustration for her entry with the pictures of sad books as being thrown away, young students reading books at the schoolyard or the book on the journey finding its owner and its pleasure to see the right owner respecting it.

In the answer to the question about the plans and methods to encourage her friends and more people to read books, Mai called the students to read books at the libraries, share and exchange with each other so that the books become really useful. She expected this contest would help people pay more attention to reading books.

According to her mother Tran Thi Thao, a teacher of Geography at Tan Tien junior high school, Mai shows great interest in reading books and studying while proactively takes part in the contests of culture and history. She often looks for the books at the library for learning purpose. Mai has won the titles of excellent students since she was in grade 1. In recent two years, she has been a member of the school’ excellent students’ team in Literature and English.

Library offers resources for visually-impaired students

Despite suffering from 90 percent visual impairment, 37-year-old Truong Phuoc Khai of Hau Giang province in the Mekong Delta has a passion for making books.

 

Free library inspires reading in rural area

Private libraries, which have been established by individuals in rural areas over the past few years, are providing free access for local people and encouraging reading among children.

 

Int’l standard child library opens in Vietnam

The first international-standard library for children in Vietnam opened at the National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi on November 16.

 

Vietnam’s rural library programme gains US award

This year's Literacy Awards named Nguyen Quang Thach and his "Books for rural areas of Vietnam" project. It is hailed for "applying research-validated practices to promote literacy" and as a model for other organizations and literacy initiatives

 

Bao Hoa