We thank our listeners for sending us your feedback.

A: We received his reception report for a program on October 16th on the frequency of 9730 Khz. He noted: “The signal was strong. Audio quality was good. There was no interference from other stations or services, just low to moderate fading. SINPO rating was 45545.”

B: Thank you, Gerardo. Your feedback helps us monitor our overseas broadcasting.

A: Anan Mohan Bain of India sent us some stickers of the Pariwar Bandhu Shortwave Club, of which he is the President. Thank you very much for the stickers with slogans like “Radio is the theater of the mind”, and “No matter what your age, no matter where you live, you can always connect with the outside world by radio”.

B: Indian listener Bidhan Chandra Sanyal writes to us every day to share his hobby of shortwave listening and his thoughts on news he heard on VOV. Sanyal said: “Vietnam is truly a magical country, one of the safest places in Asia.  Many of Vietnam's tourist attractions have been ranked among the world's top destinations, such as Ha Long Bay, Sapa, Cuc Phuong National Park, the Trang An complex, Son Doong Cave, and Hoi An ancient town. I don't know if I'll ever get a chance to see this dreamland. Whether I ever visit or not, I will love and think of Vietnam in my imagination.”

A: Thank you, Sanyal. We hope you’ll get a chance to visit Vietnam and VOV’s headquarters in Hanoi. We’ll soon welcome an Indian listener who won out 2020 contest “What do you know about Vietnam?” We hope that you’ll participate in the next contest and become one of the winners.

School library for primary pupils (Illustrative photo)

B: French listener Paul Jamet asked about Vietnam’s library system, which library is the oldest, the biggest, and the most popular one.

A: The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said in 2019 that Vietnam has more than 24,000 public libraries, including 63 city and provincial libraries. The National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi is the biggest in Vietnam’s public library system which includes 44 million books.

B: There are hundreds of libraries and bookshelves maintained by ministries, sectors, agencies, universities, enterprises, and research institutes and centers. The military library system has 1 central library, 53 libraries at academies and in military zones, and hundreds of reading rooms.

The National Library of Vietnam

A: Communal libraries and bookshelves increased in number under a national project to develop reading culture in the community from 2017 to 2020, with a vision to 2030. Libraries across the country have organized activities to teach people how to access and use information effectively.

B: City and provincial administrations have opened and expanded libraries at the local level. In September Ho Chi Minh City authorities and the Vietnam Publication Association gave 52,000 books to 50 primary schools in 5 outlying districts of HCMC.

A: These books were recommended for use in primary schools and donated by 30 publishing houses. They cover science, history, geography, math, lifestyles, and communication skills, and are beautifully printed with illustrations suitable for pupils of different ages.

B: Nguyễn Thị Trang, whose daughter is on first grade 1 at Le Quy Don Primary School, said attractive books keep children away from playing with smartphones and computer games. “The library is very helpful for the children. They can find interesting information outside their lessons and make friends there.”

Library for children at the Vietnam National Library

B: Nguyen Tuyet Mai, a grade-2 pupil, said: “The books are interesting. I’m reading a book that makes me remember my grandmother. I love to go to the library to read stories.”

A: The National Library of Vietnam in Hanoi is the oldest and biggest library in Vietnam. It has the largest number of items – more than 2.5 million books, newspapers, magazines, doctoral theses, pictures, music recordings, maps, and more.

B: The library's rare documents include thousands of handwritten or wood block printed books on poonah paper in ancient Chinese or Chinese-transcribed Vietnamese, more than 68,000 Indochinese documents, including books, newspapers, and magazines, 10,000 books published in Vietnam before 1954 and stored on microfilm, historical documents from 1946-1954, and the doctoral theses of Vietnamese and foreigners who studied in Vietnam.

A: Doan Anh Duc, deputy head of the Reading Section at the National Library of Vietnam, said: “The National Library of Vietnam preserves all kinds of old written documents of Vietnam. One rare book is “Technique du peuple Annamite”, written in 1909 by Henry Oger, a French man, and several Vietnamese artisans. People trying to revive Vietnam’s handicrafts and craft villages came here looking for information. We showed them this book, which talks about various crafts in Vietnam’s northern, central, and southern regions. It describes in detail production methods, techniques, and final products.”  

A: The National Library of Vietnam has digitized some 112,000 documents – about 8 million pages. Library visitors can also access the databases of Wilson, ProQuest, IGroup Publishing eBooks, Springer Nature eBooks, SAGE Journal, SAGE Research Method, and many other database.

Inside Ta Quang Buu Library at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology

B: University libraries are often open to the public. Ta Quang Buu Library at the Hanoi University of Science and Technology is one of the top 5 libraries in Vietnam and students call it the "mecca" of future engineers. It’s the largest university library in Southeast Asia, with spacious modern reading rooms.

A: The library at the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology is famous for its visual creativity. Its design breaks all the rules with extremely impressive colorful tables, chairs, and bookshelves. It’s vibrant, youthful, and dynamic far beyond the daring of more traditional libraries. It has more than 100,000 books and 1,000 computers connected to foreign online databases.

Colorful library of the Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology

B:  This week, we received 370 letters and emails from listeners in 38 countries and territories, who listened to VOVWorld’s programs in 13 languages.

A: The English section acknowledges feedback from Fumito Hokamura of Japan, Mr. M.S.Sreenivasa Raju of India, Richard Lemke of Canada, Ashik Eqbal Tokon of Bangladesh, Suresh Kumar Agrawal of India, Sufian Babu of India, and Pernell Johnson of the US.

B: We welcome your feedback at: English Service, VOVWorld, the Voice of Vietnam, 45 Ba Trieu street, Hanoi, Vietnam. Or you can email us at: englishsection@vov.vn. You’re invited to visit us online at vovworld.vn, where you can hear both live and recorded programs.

A: Check out our VOV Media App, available on both the IOS and Android platforms, to hear our live broadcasts. We look forward to your feedback on the mobile version of vovworld.vn. Once again, thank you all for listening. Goodbye!