Over recent years, schools across Da Nang have actively become involved in promoting a school-wide reading culture, so many students have accessed books of all kinds and developed their reading habits.

Deputy Director of the municipal Department of Culture and Sports Nguyen Thi Hoi An presenting the first prize at the ‘Reading books every day’ contest to Dau Ha Nhi, a 7th grader from the Tran Quang Khai Secondary School.

More investment pumped into school libraries

In addition to the upgrade of classrooms and function rooms, more money have recently poured into the construction of school libraries.

In the 2021-2022 school year, the Trung Vuong Secondary School based in Hai Chau District was put into use after being rebuilt at a total cost of more than VND83 billion from the city budget.

The thing that school teachers and students are most excited about is that the school library is well-equipped and modern.

Teacher Ho Ngoc Hung, the Principal of the Trung Vuong Secondary School, said that, in recent years, the school has always focused on allocating its budget to buy books and enriching the library's book resources. Also, the school's students are also provided with electronic library login codes of the Hai Chau District Department of Education and Training, so they can access information from their school library or other libraries.

Similarly, Mrs. Nguyen Duong Cam Sa, a librarian of the Tran Quang Khai Secondary School in Hoa Vang District, remarked that the school library now has more than 17,000 books of all kinds to serve students such as reference books, textbooks, and comics.

According to the latest statistics released by the municipal Department of Education and Training, till date, 94 out of 99 primary school libraries have met the standards prescribed by the Ministry of Education and Training, reaching the rate of 94.95%. Meanwhile, 56 out of 60 secondary school libraries have met the standards. Thanks to the attention and investment in school libraries, students have gradually developed their reading habits.

For instance, Dau Ha Nhi, a 7^th grader from the Tran Quang Khai Secondary School, always goes to the school library to read books. Gradually, the school library has become Ha Nhi's regular place to spend her free time.

Recently, Ha Nhi won the first prize at the ‘Reading books every day’ contest organized by the Da Nang General Science Library with ‘Crazy mother’ work by Chinese author Vuong Hang Tich.

The competition’s judges were quite surprised when Ha Nhi read this work when she was a 5^th grader.

“My love of reading comes from the habit of reading books from the school library. This is the first time I have participated in the book reading competition contest. I hope that such useful playgrounds should be organised in the coming time to inspire us to develop reading habits" added Ha Nhi.

Innovation and creativity in developing reading culture

According to Mrs. Le Thi Trang, a literature teacher at the Nguyen Binh Khiem Secondary School based in Ngu Hanh Son District, apart from teaching and learning facilities, her school has focused on spreading the reading movements among students.

Not only students, teachers are also encouraged to read books and then share the book's content on the school’s fanpage.

“Thanks to that, the book reading competition saw the highest number of entries from the school students. I think it is necessary to encourage students to read books in many different ways, including following the example of teachers and parents", noted Mrs. Trang.

Most recently, the Nui Thanh Primary School in Hai Chau District has created a ‘Happy Library’ right on the school's campus. The library is created from such recycle materials such tyres, bottles and plastic boxes, paint cans, tin sheets, iron, plastic, rubber, and wood.

Mrs. Huynh Thi Thu Nguyet, the school's principal said: "We chose the name ‘Happy Library’ with the hope that, day by day, teachers and students will be happy and have peace of mind at the library. From there, a love for reading among them will gradually grow".

In an effort to promote a healthy reading habit among students, the Da Nang General Science Library will continue to maintain meaningful contests such as a contest to seek ambassadors of reading culture, a book-based interactive storytelling contest, and a ‘Reading books everyday’ contest.

“The Da Nang government has given the green light to the implementation of the ‘Development of a public library system in the city over the 2021-2025 period with an orientation towards 2030’ project. This is the premise for us to develop a public library network at residential areas, thereby significantly contributing to developing a reading habit and reading culture in the community, especially students" said Mrs. Phuong.

Reporting by NGOC HA – Translating by M.DUNG