Students in the Mekong Delta can’t get enough of reading.
At break time, they gather under the cool shadows of the schoolyard and concentrate on books and newspapers they pluck from the trees.
It’s all thanks to schools that have launched “hanging libraries” for kids to use at recess.
The schools’ large trees are adorned with colorful plastic pipes dangling from the branches. Inside the tubes are books and all kinds of reading materials.
Thieng Duc Primary School in Vinh Long Province launched its library after former principle Nguyen Thi Quynh Anh saw such libraries on a business trip to Thailand and brought the idea home, said Thieng Duc principle Vo Phuoc Tho.
While many students still jump rope and play hide-and-seek, others rush for popular children’s publications Khan Quang Do (Red Tie) and Nhi Dong (Pioneer).
Thieng Duc’s animated school yard has six trees containing 160 books, said Tho.
Students gather happily into groups to read Doremon, fairy stories and newspapers. Many giggle as they read.
Thieng Duc second-grader Khong Nhut Dang said he liked reading fairy tales but he does not have any at home, he and his friends share the stories at school during breaks.
Some 100 primary and secondary schools in the province now have hanging libraries.
Other Mekong Delta provinces like Dong Thap, Tra Vinh, and Hau Giang are also applying the model.
Ky Liem, assistant principle at Cai Tac Secondary School in Hau Giang Province, said his school now has 50 tubes containing a variety of books.
He said more students at the school were now reading for pleasure than ever before.
Nguyen Van Trieu, a teacher at Chau Thanh District Ethnic Minority Boarding School in Tra Vinh Province, said the school had 170 students in grades 6-9, most of whom visited the library to enjoy newspapers like Thieu nhi dan toc (Ethic Children) and Khmer.
The school keeps its newspapers updated on a regular basis, Trieu said.
Most teachers at schools with such libraries said that the number of students reading books has skyrocketed and their reading skills had improved drastically since the introduction of the hanging books.
Following these successes, the Vinh Long Province Depart of Education and Training also began opening “cask libraries” at secondary schools in the province last year.
The “cask library” includes buckets made from corrugated iron and tin. The buckets are decorated with pictures and filled with books under trees and around benches in school yards.
