Mobile Libraries Project

As mentioned in the previous post, we are back in Vietnam for an exciting new project: delivering Mobile Libraries to schools in Binh Thuan Province.


The Mobile Library concept has been running since 1979 in Thailand. In the last few years, Le Ly Hayslip and the Global Village Foundation have been placing Mobile Libraries in schools in Quang Nam Province in Central Vietnam. We visited some of those schools in April and wrote about the experience here.

Global Village Foundation will now implement the Mobile Library program in Binh Thuan Province, and we'll be there to help!

The Need
Global Village Foundation describes the need on their website:

We hope to provide assistance in addressing two major issues that we have identified in Viet Nam, especially in the rural, central region. The first is the literacy problem, and the second is the shortage of books and other reading materials to be used as teaching tools.
[...]
The Vietnamese education system divides primary schools into Main and Subordinate schools. The Main primary schools receive most of the attention and funding, which means that each school is equipped with a library, but not the Subordinate schools. Our aim is, therefore, to provide these Subordinate primary schools with Portable Library Units filled with books so that children attending these schools will not be left behind, educationally speaking.

The Mobile Libraries
The Mobile Library units are simple boxes which hold approximately 250 books each.

Here is a picture of one of the Library units ready to be moved or stored.

And here is a Library unit displaying the books in a classroom.

And here is the Mobile Library in action in the classroom.

Sharing The Books
Each school in the program is given a Mobile Library Unit at the beginning of the semester, and the children can read the 250 books over the semester (approximately 4 months). At the end of the semester, the Mobile Library Units are rotated through the participating schools, resulting in a fresh batch of 250 books in each school. The rotation program is based on a 2 year cycle, such that each child will have access to nearly 1000 books over the cycle (4 semesters).

The books vary in topic and grade level, and include both Vietnamese and English language titles. The book list is developed in conjunction with the Education department.

Donations

Please consider donating to help us help the Vietnamese children. Donations are tax-deductible.

Contact us at VietnamAnon@yahoo.com, or Le Ly Hayslip at Info@globalvillagefoundation.org

Here is a short clip of two of the libraries in action in a class room from our visit earlier this year. It's pretty simple, and pretty effective, right?

We'll keep you posted as things progress.