(VOVworld) - The Vietnam National Committee for UNESCO and the Ministry of Education and Training have honored organizations and individuals for their outstanding contributions to encourage book reading habits in rural areas.

The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) acknowledged the Vietnamese initiative during its 50^th anniversary of the International Literacy Day on September 9^th this year. The program reflects successful cooperation between the state and the community for better education. After 9 years of implementation, the program has built up book shelves in 12,000 classrooms, enabling rural pupil access to at least 50 books a year. Nguyen Quang Thach is one of the movement’s founders:“We have a specific strategy to mobilize schools and parents’ contributions. With an annual donation of 50,000 dong, their kids could read books worth up to 2 million dong. Our pilot scheme in one school has been duplicated in hundreds of schools nationwide. This has triggered more donations from Vietnamese people at home and abroad.”

UNSECO said "these civil libraries are different from public libraries as they are funded by mobilising community resources and are managed by community members or volunteers. The programme seeks, in particular, to increase book availability and accessibility for readers in rural and mountainous areas who have fewer opportunities to read books. As well as providing access, it also organises group reading activities where readers can practice and strengthen their literacy skills."