National Library of Viet Nam and International Organisation of La Francophonie organize Opening Ceremony of the Francophone Book Space

To carry out the Minister of Culture, Sports, and Tourism's Decision No. 2590/QD-BVHTTDL, dated September 16, 2020 on the approval of the Project “Francophone Book Space”; after a period of carrying out the work of signing MoU, receiving and performing technical processing for the donated books, on the morning of October 12, 2022, the National Library of Viet Nam (NLV) and the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF) officially opened the Francophone Book Space at the NLV to meet the increasing demand for learning and researching materials in French of the community.

Attending the Opening Ceremony, on the side of invited guests, there were: Ms. Tran Hai Van – Deputy Director of the International Cooperation Department, Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MoCST); Mr. Nguyen Trung Dung – Standing Deputy Head of External Information Department, Viet Nam Union of Friendship Organizations, Ms. Tran Thi Mai Yen – Acting Chief Representative of the International Organisation of La Francophonie in Asia – Pacific; Mr. Shawn Steil – Canadian Ambassador to Viet Nam, President of GADIF (Group of Francophone Embassies, Delegations and Institutions in Ha Noi); On the side of the National Library of Viet Nam, there were: Ms. Kieu Thuy Nga – Director of the National Library of Viet Nam and managing officials of the library. Representatives of departments and units under the management of the MoCST, the International Organisation of La Francophonie, Embassies of Francophone countries in Ha Noi, libraries, schools, relevant units, departments, domestic press agencies and students in Ha Noi capital also attended the event.

The Francophone Book Space at the NLV was established with the support of OIF with an initial collection of more than 600 books in French. 50% of the collection are in the fields of social sciences economics, education, linguistic, applied sciences, health, agriculture, arts, sports, literature, and reference books; the remaining 50% are children books. Among them, there are such valuable books as: La Théo des fleuves by author Jean-Marc Turine, won the Five Continents Prize of the Francophonie (Vietnamese version is called “Người đàn bà Di gan” has been published in Viet Nam), or the comic series loved by many generations of children: Les Schtroumpfs, Spirou et Fantasio, Une aventure d'Astérix,…

With the approval of the MoCST, the NLV and the OIF will establish Francophone Book Spaces at the National Library of Viet Nam and 8 major provincial/city libraries across the country, including: Hai Phong, Quang Ninh, Nghe An, Khanh Hoa, Lam Dong, Can Tho, Ben Tre and Binh Duong with the initial collection of about 6,000 books in French. Within the framework of the project, from October to December 2022, OIF also cooperates with the NLV and the beneficiary libraries to organize the opening ceremony of the book spaces and organize promotion activities to promote the effectiveness of the donated books. Through the library system in these provinces, the Francophone Book Space with selected book collections will provide opportunities to approach the cultures, countries and people of the Francophone community in the world.

With the goal of supporting and facilitating access to cultural knowledge and content through increasing documentation resources for public libraries of member countries, including Viet Nam, Ms. Kieu Thuy Nga - NLV Director confirmed at her opening speech that: The Francophone Book Spaces at the National Library of Viet Nam and 8 major provincial/city libraries are useful bridges to provide information and knowledge for Vietnamese people of all ages with relatively complete understanding in all fields of culture, society, science and technology of other Francophonie member countries through the common language of French, helping to strengthen the solidarity and friendship within the International Organization of La Francophonie. Also at the event, Ms. Tran Thi Mai Yen – Acting Chief Representative of OIF Asia-Pacific shared: “The Francophone Book Spaces at the National Library of Viet Nam and 8 major provincial/city libraries will contribute to the dissemination of French and Francophone in Viet Nam, for the benefit of the people, French learners, French teachers, French lovers and anyone who wants to broaden their knowledge horizons. Nearly 6,000 works of high literary quality by authors from many French speaking countries will contribute to the enrichment of the existing collections of these libraries”.

Photos of the same event:

Opening Ceremony of the Francophone Book Space

Ms. Tran Thi Mai Yen – Acting Chief Representative of the International Organization of La Francophonie in Asia – Pacific delivers speech at the Opening Ceremony