Since it officially opened its doors to the public in early June, the An Binh community reading house, located at 78 Thi Sach, Hoa Thuan Tay Ward, Hai Chau District, has become a destination for book lovers and a bridge to spread good values about the land and the people of Da Nang.

The An Binh community reading house attracts many children living on Thi Sach Street.

Mrs. Le Thi Mai, the founder of An Binh community reading house, said that she cherished a dream of building a free reading place for the community a few years ago. Her idea received great support from her husband and spiritual encouragement from her children who have special love for books.

Talking about the motivation to fulfill her dream, Mrs. Mai said that by observing the learning process of her children, she found that reading books brought positive effects in training her children's thinking and character.

Mrs. Le Thi Mai (left) is the founder of the An Binh community reading house

A person who reads a lot of books will nourish his body and soul to become happier, more intellectual and more tolerant. According to her, each book is a teacher, containing many good lessons. Compared to watching short entertaining videos on social networks, reading helps the brain think deeply and increase concentration and memory.

Besides, Mrs. Mai wants to read more, thereby spreading her love of books to her relatives and friends, and contributing to the development of reading culture in the locality.

Mrs. Mai added “In order to encourage others to read books, we must be an example for them to see and follow. Maybe they read a little each day, but gradually they will form a habit and nurture a love for books”.

There are many books of different genres such as literature, children, history and detective

The 45m² reading house has more than 200 books, most of which come from her family and the number tends to increase when many benefactors from some parts of the country want to donate books to the house.

Mrs. Mai couldn’t hide her happiness as her work received so much support from donors nationwide. “I feel very happy and honoured when people know about the An Binh reading house in particular, as well as the good image of Da Nang land and people in general” she emphasised.

Not only Mrs. Mai, since the reading house opened, children living on Thi Sach Street have shared that joy.

Whenever she has free time, Nguyen Bao Linh immediately runs to the house with a pen and a small notebook in hands to read books. When she reads good sentences, Linh will immediately write them down.

Cool and clean reading space at the An Binh community reading house.

According to Mrs. Mai, the reading house is also a place for people to discuss contents of books together, and express their own views and perspectives on the meaning of the books.

Mrs. Mai hopes that the community reading house will help people, especially the low-income group, have easier access to books, and at the same time, the model will be replicated in other localities citywide in the near future.

Reporting by THU DUYEN - Translating by M.DUNG