At Tao Dan Park in District 1, HCMC every Sunday morning, visitors may notice a quiet book reading corner for the public. 

Visitors are seen at the public book reading corner at Tao Dan Park in downtown HCMC 

Ngo Lan Phuc Vy, a teacher at Dang Tran Con Elementary School in District 4, said the public reading corner has been in service for nearly three years thanks to the cooperation among his companions of MY (Make it yourself) Library, a non-profit club that fosters the reading culture, especially among kids.

Due to the busy schedules of club members, Vy and his wife are currently running the reading corner where a wide variety of books featuring comics, novels, literature, economics and foreign languages can be found. 

Opened from 7.30 a.m. to noon every Sunday morning, the reading area captures the attention of hundreds of book enthusiasts, children and those spending a weekend morning at the park for exercises. One of the highlights of the site is that readers can borrow books for reading at home at no charge. 

The reading corner also has many old and rare foreign-language books for students of English as these books are expensive at bookstores.

Many parents take their children there to read books, instead of letting them stay at home to watch TV and play computer games.  

A 35-year-old visitor whose son is attending Dong Da Elementary School in HCMC’s Tan Binh District, said children are now highly exposed to social media, computers and smartphones, so they lack interest in book reading. He said there should be more public reading corners like this to promote the reading culture among kids and reduce their exposure to the Internet and social media.

“Seeing people come and go, I sense the meaning of my life as they tell all sorts of stories, happy and unhappy alike,” Vy’s wife said.

Seeing the humanitarian values of this charitable activity, many foreigners and local residents have donated books to the club. 

Those wishing to donate or exchange books should contact Mr. Ngo Lan Phuc Vy on 0985 761 604 or email to ngolanphucvy@gmail.com.

SGT