Teacher’s home library a beacon of light for local students

October 16, 2016 - 09:00

The home library of teacher Huỳnh Thị Thanh Phương in An Phú Commune in HCM City’s rural Củ Chi District, is encouraging student to read responsibly.

Books on loan: Primary school teacher Huỳnh Thị Thanh Phương and students read at her home in HCM City’s rural Củ Chi District. File Photo
Viet Nam News

No fees, no cards. When students stop by the home library of local teacher Huỳnh Thị Thanh Phương, they’re on the honour system. She trusts them that much.

Phương, who teaches at a primary school in An Phú Commune in HCM City’s rural Củ Chi District, allows students to drop by even when she is not at home.

“I wanted to create conditions to promote honesty and responsibility among the children,” Phuơng says

Book borrowers are asked to write down their names and the lending and return dates in a notebook on a table in the library, located in a small room.

Some of the books are placed along a corridor or hung on windows to catch the eyes of children. Visitors can stay and read or take a book home, Phương says.

When she began collecting two years ago, Phương had only 200 books, but the number has risen to 1,500.

All the books have been donated by publishers, writers, volunteer students and other donors around the country. The books cover a wide variety of topics such as literature, history and geography, and include comics and textbooks.

Phuong’s passion for reading extends beyond her home and classroom. At An Bình Primary School, where she teaches, she sometimes takes books to the school’s playground “for kids to read during their break.” VNS

E-paper