The bookmobiles are part of a project established in 2015 to help cultivate a reading culture in remote communities.
On the morning of September 20, the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced that 31 bookmobiles will go to 31 libraries in provinces across the country, Zing reports. Each vehicle contains 4,500 books, a host computer, six laptops, TVs, a projector and 100 seats. A series of training sessions for library officials on how to use the bookmobile resources is also provided.
According to Vu Duong Thuy Nga, general director of the library department, the project was first established at the end of 2015, with the first five bookmobiles equipped in October 2016. In 2018, eight more were added. This year, the mobile libraries were sponsored by Vingroup.
In three years, these mobile libraries have made 1,118 trips to different locales across the country and served more than three million users. The culture ministry is currently reaching out to a library management software company and finding more resources for e-books and audiobooks to accommodate blind readers.
The ministry has, however, raised concerns regarding future utilization of these bookmobiles. While many users are excited about the mobile libraries and the idea still seems novel, the project will require useful programs and materials in order to maintain readers’ interest in the long run.
[Photo by Hoang Dong via Zing]
