VietNamNet Bridge – Vietnamese students
nowadays do not think that libraries could be useful for them in learning. As
for many of them, libraries are simply the places to take a nap after lunch or
use Wi-Fi free of charge.

Modern libraries cannot attract
students

Many universities
and junior colleges say they have spent tens of billions of dong to build
modern libraries. However, the libraries still cannot attract students, simply
because students do not think they need to go there.

In general,
students only go to libraries in December and June, when they have to prepare
for semester exams. In these months, libraries get overloaded. Meanwhile, in
the remaining time of year, the libraries are deserted.

The library
at the Hanoi University of Social Sciences and Humanity was seen deserted on a
mid-week day, with just several students seen reading journals. The library at
the Me Tri Dormitory was also deserted, while most of the students seen at the
library at that moment were not university students, but the students of the
high school belonging to the university; who prepared for the university
entrance exams.

Ta Quang
Buu Library, under the Hanoi University of Technology has been well known among
students because it is considered the biggest university library with a
10-storey building, which can serve 2000 students at the same time, and open
seven days a week. However, only few students come there to seek materials for
their essays or scientific research.

Dinh Thi
Minh Nguyet, a first year student of the Hanoi University of Social Sciences
and Humanity, said that “only first year and second students go to libraries
regularly, while third and fourth year students do not come there unless they need
documents for essays.”

Quoc Hieu,
an information technology student of the Hanoi University
for Natural Sciences, said “in the first two years at university, students
mostly learn general subjects; therefore, they need to read more documents to
get more knowledge.” Meanwhile, third year and fourth year students study
specialized subjects, and they have to spend more time on practice than theory.

He also
thinks that students nowadays do not need to go to libraries to seek documents,
because they can easily look for what they want on Internet. Lecturers will not
be able to discover that student’s essays include the paragraphs copied from
somewhere else, because they have to mark nearly 100 essays at the same time.

Libraries – what for?

There are
2000 students living at the Me Tri Dormitory, but most of them would rather
stay at their rooms rather than going to libraries. Pham Thi Ngan, a student,
said that “she only goes to libraries when semester exams come.”

Hoang Manh
Luong, a student of the University for Technology is proud of the modern
library, but only goes to library when he needs “some quiet place to prepare
for exams”.

Meanwhile,
many students go to libraries not to study or prepare for exams, but just to
take a nap after lunch. Especially, some students said “they go to libraries to
use Internet free of charge, or simply because it is too hot in their rooms
while they do not want to spent money for the electricity to run electric fan.”

The story
that Vietnamese students do not like going to libraries could be a big surprise
to foreign students, who can sit at libraries from the morning until evening.
Professor Ngo Bao Chau, the Fields Medal winner, said “he spent 10 hours a day
at libraries when he prepared for the doctorate.”

C. V