To encourage people to read books, many individuals have openedlibraries to the public free of charge. In Hanoi, these librarieshave become useful places for local people, helping revive the love ofreading at a time when the traditional thirst for reading seems tohave eroded.
In Binh Vong village, Van Binhcommune, Thuong Tin district, there is a private library where readerscan find up to 6,000 book titles and seven kinds of newspapers.
The library opened in 1999. It has welcomed a large number of localreaders and for many of the readers, going to the library has now becomea habit.
“I can get updated news through readingbooks and newspapers here, said 88-year-old Tran Dinh Lan. “Old peoplelike me often go to the library. It is also a way to encourage youngpeople to go to this place.”
Launched in 2005, HungPhuc library in Dong Mai ward, Ha Dong district also attracts a largenumber of people, most of whom are students.
Thetwo-story library includes about 4,000 book titles. On the first floorare 2,500 popular books, from the fairy tales of Vietnam toencyclopaedias. The second floor comprises academic books, includingones on Marxism, Leninism and oriental and western philosophy.
Le Anh Tuan, a student from Dong Mai ward, said: “I often go to HungPhuc library. It offers me a wide range of knowledge. I have never seen alibrary with as many books as this.”
The library’sowner, Nguyen Xuan Chin, said he opened the library as he wants to makefull use of books as a tool for education and entertainment. However,according to Chin, the number of readers to his library is declining,which makes him unhappy.
Chin said since the Internetbecame popular in 2009, fewer visitors came to his library than in theprevious years. Now readers going to the library are mainly the elderly.But he also said he thinks that people should keep their habit ofreading books as they contain a wide range of knowledge.
In recent years, t he phrase "reading culture" has been mentioned alot by many Vietnamese people, particularly book compilers andeducationists, who believe that the traditional thirst for learning andreading seems to have eroded, especially among the youths .
A recent survey by the Vietnam Publishers’ Association (VPA) showedthat on average, each year one Vietnamese reads less than one book fromthe library.
Another survey conducted at someuniversities in Hanoi by the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciencerevealed that only about 10 percent of students living in collegedormitories, and 20 percent living with their families, read dailynewspapers and books regularly.
According to theVPA, Vietnam has more than 60 publishers nationwide, one nationallibrary, 63 city and provincial level libraries and thousands ofcommunity libraries.
There are also many privatelibraries and book collectors. In 2013, nearly 25,000 book titles with274 million copies were published, compared to 16,500 titles and nearly190 million copies in 2012.-VNA
In Binh Vong village, Van Binhcommune, Thuong Tin district, there is a private library where readerscan find up to 6,000 book titles and seven kinds of newspapers.
The library opened in 1999. It has welcomed a large number of localreaders and for many of the readers, going to the library has now becomea habit.
“I can get updated news through readingbooks and newspapers here, said 88-year-old Tran Dinh Lan. “Old peoplelike me often go to the library. It is also a way to encourage youngpeople to go to this place.”
Launched in 2005, HungPhuc library in Dong Mai ward, Ha Dong district also attracts a largenumber of people, most of whom are students.
Thetwo-story library includes about 4,000 book titles. On the first floorare 2,500 popular books, from the fairy tales of Vietnam toencyclopaedias. The second floor comprises academic books, includingones on Marxism, Leninism and oriental and western philosophy.
Le Anh Tuan, a student from Dong Mai ward, said: “I often go to HungPhuc library. It offers me a wide range of knowledge. I have never seen alibrary with as many books as this.”
The library’sowner, Nguyen Xuan Chin, said he opened the library as he wants to makefull use of books as a tool for education and entertainment. However,according to Chin, the number of readers to his library is declining,which makes him unhappy.
Chin said since the Internetbecame popular in 2009, fewer visitors came to his library than in theprevious years. Now readers going to the library are mainly the elderly.But he also said he thinks that people should keep their habit ofreading books as they contain a wide range of knowledge.
In recent years, t he phrase "reading culture" has been mentioned alot by many Vietnamese people, particularly book compilers andeducationists, who believe that the traditional thirst for learning andreading seems to have eroded, especially among the youths .
A recent survey by the Vietnam Publishers’ Association (VPA) showedthat on average, each year one Vietnamese reads less than one book fromthe library.
Another survey conducted at someuniversities in Hanoi by the Vietnam Institute of Social Sciencerevealed that only about 10 percent of students living in collegedormitories, and 20 percent living with their families, read dailynewspapers and books regularly.
According to theVPA, Vietnam has more than 60 publishers nationwide, one nationallibrary, 63 city and provincial level libraries and thousands ofcommunity libraries.
There are also many privatelibraries and book collectors. In 2013, nearly 25,000 book titles with274 million copies were published, compared to 16,500 titles and nearly190 million copies in 2012.-VNA
