With the desire to guide children towards truth, goodness and beauty and nourish their dreams of a good life, the Library of Dreams project was established by Nguyen Phi Van, chairwoman of the Vietnam Angel Network.
By March 2021, the project had installed 60 libraries in 11 provinces including, Tay Ninh, Binh Phuoc, Vung Tau, Vinh Long, Ben Tre, Dong Nai, Lam Dong, Can Tho, Dak Lak, Dak Nong and Quang Nam. 18,000 students in the localities then had access to books and artistic activities.
According to Van, the library should be a place to help children form the habit of reading books and join in artistic activities. Vietnamese children need to add more soft skills and knowledge that help them understand and orient themselves better. By participating in artistic activities such as painting, music, and photography, the children can enrich their creativity and love for life.
Co-founder of the project Nguyen Phi Van with children at the experience space in the library of dreams.
Photo: Library of Dreams
The “Library of Dreams” is an art and library project for Vietnamese children in areas where books and cultural and art activities have not been accessible. It was founded by Nguyen Phi Van, chairman of the board of directors of the Retail & Franchise Asia company and Van Tien Hung, reporter of the Tuoi Tre Cuoi Newspaper in 2014.
Nguyen Thi Tuyet Nhung, a member of the management board of the “Library of Dreams” project said that a library was installed as a present for the students at Ko Pa Ko Long school in Kon Tum province. Teachers, parents and students were very happy when they accessed books in the library in February 2022. They said that without the project, they wouldn't know when their children would be able to read and be surrounded with so many interesting and useful books.
Each library consists of two main parts, including a creative space and bookshelves. The creative space has many colorful and attractive décor items, and convertible seats for reading. Numerous books of comedy, science, language and history have beautiful images and interesting content that are suitable for all ages. With this project, each school commits to have a compulsory reading lesson in which teachers and students together read books and share their thoughts.
Tuyet Nhung said that, in remote areas where geographical and economic conditions are difficult, students do not have much access to knowledge as well as art. The Library of Dreams will be a place to help children access the latest information about science, art and creativeness.
The books in the library are selected by the project’s professional council with the aim of seeding global citizenship with innovative thinking and the foundation skills. Nguyen Phi Van wants Vietnamese children to have further access to information, art and creativity to help make them ready to go out into the world in the future.
During the 2020-2030 period, the project has scheduled set up 1,000 libraries in 63 provinces and cities in Vietnam. The expectation is that more than 50,000 students will have access to books and artistic and creative activities.
