Hanoi’s Van Xuan flower garden on Quan Thanh Street, has become a free haven for book lovers.

Children gathering books at the library

Driven by a passion for reading and sharing knowledge with others, Dinh Thanh Long (from Hanoi Foreign Trade University) and Nguyen Xuan Hoang (Brand Manager of Thangbesport in Ho Chi Minh City), have established the Youth Book Club.

The main activity of the club is to collect books and bring them to Van Xuan flower garden to allow people to read without charging them a penny.

Long is the chairman of the club and Hoang supports him from Ho Chi Minh City.

Long shared that he was very fond of reading books ever since he was young and that he has always shared interesting books with his friends.

Being born in Hanoi, Long loves the city very much. He wanted to do something for his hometown with the 1,000 year anniversary of Hanoi approaching. Long shared a vision with Hoang after being told the story of two girls who opened a free library in Ho Chi Minh City. Long was enthusiastically on board.

Long shared, “The club members want to give something back to society by creating and sharing reading as passion and a habit. The club’s activities are expected to connect and influence young people all over the country.”

After being open for two weeks, the club members have now collected 2,000 books, newspapers and magazines in different fields. They have 20 members and many fans on Facebook.

Long shared some memories that on the first day, a man thought they were selling old books and tried to persuade them to allow them to buy a book which he liked very much.

Another day, it suddenly started raining. Club members did not care about themselves getting wet but instead tried their best to protect the books from the rain.

Elderly people, kids, street vendors, taxi drivers and more, come to the garden and read books under the luscious shadows of the trees.

Shoe-shiners and restaurant workers near the library now can have a chance to read their books which they cannot afford to buy.

One little girl, Viet Anh, has joined the club and takes care of the comic books while an elderly man praised the club’s activities and donated many magazines.

The free library is open from 7am to 6pm on Saturdays and Sundays. However, Long plans to ask for permission from his university’s leaders to open the library every Tuesday and Thursday at the university.

The club members are also completing textbooks for children in remote areas of Vietnam.

They hope to collect more books so that they can expand reading activities in other places throughout Hanoi.

Dinh Thanh Long (left) and a club member at Van Xuan flower garden

Organising books