VietNamNet Bridge – Ban Pho Commune’s first public library in Bac Ha District, the northern province of Lao Cai, was already crowded hours before its opening ceremony on November 25.

Bookworm: National Assembly’s Chairman of the Nationalities Committee Giang Seo Phu (left) and students from the communal school witness the opening of the commune’s first public library.

“I love reading, but my school’s library is quite small,” said Mai. “Now that the public library has opened, I can read books regularly.”

Sung Thi Do could hardly believe that their small commune could have its own library.

“I can’t read, but I’d like to come here and ask students to read books for me,” she said.

The gift of reading to this remote mountainous commune was presented by Van Hoa (Culture) newspaper as part of the newspaper’s editorial board’s project aimed at mountainous areas. It took seven months to plan, build and collect the books for the remote book-worm’s sanctuary.

The board had visited the commune on a cold March day, and saw the difficult lives the local people faced, with a severe lack of entertainment and cultural facilities.

The newspaper’s editor-in-chief Tran Dang Khoa said that the donation of 3,000 books and documents was made to provide the local ethnic people with greater access to information.

“The library is not just a present from Van Hoa newspaper, but a gift from our hearts for the people in Ban Pho Commune,” Khoa said.

“We hope that the library will be respected and benefit its readers,” Khoa continued. “Students can have access to reference materials for school, while adults can find useful information for day-to-day life, or pick up a book to read and relax with.”

Keeping in mind long-term use of the facility, Khoa promised to add to and update the library annually.

Chairman of the National Assembly’s Nationalities Committee Giang Seo Phu, said that he highly appreciated the work of the newspaper’s editorial board, and other relevant agencies who worked together to donate the books and documents for the library.

“I’m really moved, the library will hopefully bring them lots of joy.”

(Source: Viet Nam News)