Over recent years, the Da Nang authorities have focused on developing more healthy community entertainment spaces in a bid to enhance the spiritual lives of local residents.

Children reading books at a local primary school in Hai Chau District

Hai Chau has become a pioneering district in developing numerous innovations aimed at promoting a healthy reading habit amongst local residents, especially young people and children, which has helped to further the local reading culture.

Inspired by the launch of the ‘little free libraries’ model in several countries worldwide, the ‘Book Box’ project, involving placing boxes of free books in certain locations, has been operating in the district since 2014.  Anyone can read books from the boxes placed in coffee shops or at foreign language centres in the district, and they can take them home for as long as they wish.  All they need to do is replace the book they take with one of their own.

Apart from the public reading rooms in ward-level community houses, many local coffee shops provide a wide range of books for their customers to read, and this has proved very popular with locals, especially young people.

Following recent approval by the Thanh Khe District People’s Committee (PC), over 500 million VND from the district’s budget will be spent on upgrading the Xuan Ha Ward Reading Room at 570 Tran Cao Van, which should please the many local book-lovers.

The Vice Chairman of the district PC, Mr Nguyen Thanh Xuan, remarked that public parks, entertainment areas and gardens for strolling have also been constructed on vacant land lots at the construction sites of projects which have yet to be developed.  This has helped to satisfy the relaxation and entertainment demands of local residents.

He added that all the 10 wards in the district have their own communal houses, where meetings and get-togethers for local families often take place.

Children learning how to swim at a local high school

Following instructions from the municipal Department of Education and Training, all of the city’s schools are opening their libraries and sports areas to the general public from 6.00am to 9.00pm daily during the ongoing summer vacation.  The aim is to provide more healthy entertainment spaces for local residents, especially children.

Also, appeals are being made for public investments to open clubs for martial arts, music, swimming and other extracurricular subjects in the local schools. 

Local woman Nguyen Kim Anh, who lives near the Hoang Hoa Tham High School, said that every afternoon she and other female residents gather at this school to do physical exercise and take leisurely strolls to enjoy the fresh air.  They feel very comfortable because the venue is very clean, airy and peaceful, with many shady trees.  In particular, the school is considered an ideal venue for locals to conduct book exchanges and share their experiences in bringing up and educating their children in a very friendly atmosphere.

Most notably, the municipal authorities have recently debuted a website at http://opendata.danang.gov.vn.  It provides useful information about local centres offering training courses in life skills, learn-to-swim, foreign languages, information technology, and other extracurricular subjects.