Vietnam school libraries and librarians.

1. Developing a School Library Program in Vietnam
Opportunities and Challenges
Zakir Hossain
Teacher-Librarian
Extended Essay Coordinator
EUROPEAN Int’l School HCMC
amity.du@gmail.com
Oct 19, 2016
The 2nd Regional Workshop of School Libraries in ASEAN Countries
Oct 18-19, University of Indonesia, Jakarta

2. 22
THE NOBEL EDUCATION NETWORK
Established in 2010
A family of four K-12 international
schools and around 1500 students
across four locations
Around 350 employees
Operated by Rising Tide Asia, a
Singapore-based private equity
advisory company focused on
investments in education and
healthcare
HQ located in Singapore.

3. 3
Developing a School Library Program in Vietnam
Opportunities and Challenges

4. 4
Viet Nam
Constitutional name Socialist Republic of Vietnam
Population 93.4 million
Literacy rate 94.5% (M - 96.3% & F - 92.8%)
Education
Expenditure
6.3% of GDP (2012)
GDP Per Capita $ 2,200 (2015)
Annual Growth rate 6.1%
CIA 2016 & Index Mundi 2015

5. 5
Viet Nam Library Systems at a glance
Viet Nam
Library
Systems
Public Library
System
National
Library
City &
Provincial
Libraries
District, Town,
Ward and
Commune
Libraries
Academic
Library System
University &
Collage
Libraries
Educational
Library System
School Libraries
Special Library
System
Social Science
Institutions
Libraries
Science &
Technology
libraries
Health &
Medicine
Libraries
Agricultural
Libraries
Military Library
System
Central Military
Library
Military
Libraries
Zakir, 2016

6. 6
Vu, Duong Thuy Nga (2011)
Viet Nam Library Systems at a glance

7. 7
Region Number of schools Number of school libraries Percentage (%)
North Vietnam 14,272 12,927 90.58%
Centre Vietnam 3,272 2,839 86.77%
South Vietnam 9,997 8,980 89.83%
Total 27,541 24,746 89.85%
Number of schools & school libraries
Nguyen, Thi Thu Phuong (2015)

8. 8
•On-site reading
•Book borrowing
•Story telling through book contest
•Excellent school librarians contest
Existing school library programmes
Nguyen, Thi Thu Phuong (2015)

9. 9
Opportunities for Viet Nam School Libraries
Existence of school libraries and Librarians/Teacher-Librarians
NGOs and private sectors involvement with school library sector
Government and policy makers are aware of the limitations
Separate budget for school libraries
Suitable IT Infrastructure
Locally published ebooks

10. 10
Challenges for Viet Nam School Libraries
Lack of qualified library staff
@No particular program on school librarianship e.g. MS or TL-ASEAN/SEAMEO issue
Poor publishing industry, local language, censorship etc.
Poor cooperation b/w school and public libraries
Separate planning among Ministries, Departments and Directorates
Absence of reading promotion activities-Book week/Fair/ Author visit
Lack of budget, social value and PD opportunities

11. 11
Directions for the future
Improve librarians’ teaching and user advocacy skills
@Offer training to school librarians/ ensure qualified Teacher-Librarians are produced in the country
Initiate/promote Reading Aloud program
@Book club, reading by parents/librarian/teachers
Cooperate with local public libraries, NGOs & *CLCs
Invite local authors to read in the library
Organize book week/ fair and other occasional events
@Book display, Library decoration
Community inclusion
@Book Marking, Book talk, Student-Librarian, Parents Volunteer, parents sessions
Promote (free!) ebooks
*CLC=Community Learning Centre

12. 12
Question?
Comment?

13. 13
References
Hossain, Z. (2016). Journey toward Learning Society: Possibilities and challenges of Viet Nam Libraries.
Paper presented at the 3rd Annual International Conference on Library and Information Science July 25-
28, Athens, Greece.
Hossain, Z. (2014). Vietnam libraries: A potential catalyst for building a learning society. Proceedings of the
5th international conference on libraries, information and society (ICoLIS), held 4–5 November in Kuala
Lumpur, Malaysia (pp . 327–342). Retrieved 12 February 2016, from
http://umconference.um.edu.my/ICOLIS2014
Hossain, Z. (2013). An analytical study of some NGOs’/NPOs’ contributions by promoting library activities at
disadvantageous areas in Vietnam to create potential and lifelong learners. Library Philosophy and Practice,
26 February [e-journal]. Retrieved 12 February 2016, from http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/libphilprac/864/
NGUYEN, THI THU PHUONG (2015). VIETNAM COUNTRY REPORT ON SCHOOL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT. PRE-
CONSAL WORKSHOP ON SCHOOL LIBRARY DEVELOPMENT IN ASEAN COUNTRY, BANGKOK.
Vu, D. T. N. (2011). The development of book reading activity for promoting better life of citizen in Vietnam
(online document). Retrieved 12 February 2016, from http://www.tkpark.or.th/stocks/extra/000514.pdf

14. 14
Thank You
Zakir Hossain
amity.du@gmail.com
zakir.hossain@eishcmc.com
Web: https://works.bepress.com/zakir_hossain/

15. Number of School Librarians/Teacher-librarians
Region Total
number
Full-time
librarian
Teacher-
Librarian
Combined post
Percentage
(%)
North
Vietnam
13,807 4,706 9,101 34%
Central
Vietnam
3,047 1,666 1,381 54.7%
South
Vietnam
9,724 6,738 2,986 69.3%
Total 26,578 13,110 13,468 49.3%
Nguyen, Thi Thu Phuong (2015)

16. 16
Viet Nam Non-Government initiatives
NGO= Non-Government Organization, NPO= Non-Profit Organization (Zakir, 2013)
Name of NGOs/NPOs Library
establishment/
renovation
Book dotation
(est.)
Beneficiary
(est.)
Room to Read 862 1,294,696
90 titles pub.
364,000
Global Village Foundation 800 160,000 21,000
Highland Education
Development Organization
03 3,800
The Library Project 25 3,500
Library of Vietnam Project 22
Peace Trees Vietnam 12
Vietnam Fund for Education,
Music and Infrastructure
11 2000
Vietnam Dream for Success 06

17. Budget for school libraries
Region Number of
schools
Budget allocated
for school libraries
(Billion VND)
Average budget
allocated per one
school library
(Million VND)
North Vietnam 14,272 114.6 8.03
Central Vietnam 3,272 32.2 9.85
South Vietnam 9,997 56 5.6
Total 27,541 202.8 7.4
Nguyen, Thi Thu Phuong (2015)

18. Reasons that distract potential library users
27
10
29
23
11
31
15
23
27
13
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
Old books Noisy Unfriendly library staff Uncomfortable Furniture No comment
University Student High School Student
Hossain, 2014