Vietnam's reading promotion initiative honored by the US Library of Congress

On October 18, 2023, the Literacy and Knowledge Dissemination Awards Ceremony took place solemnly at the headquarters of the Library of Congress, Washington DC

This year, Vietnam has 01 representative, the Compassionate Bookcase Program and the Wisdom House, who were honored to be named in the Excellent Practice category of this prestigious Award for their efforts in creating a reading and lifelong learning ecosystem, contributing to creating generations of global citizens with full intelligence and compassion.

The Library of Congress Literacy Awards were established in 2013 to recognize organizations that have demonstrated innovative, effective strategies to promote reading and create lifelong learning opportunities for all. In its 11th year, the Library of Congress has awarded the awards to 180 organizations from 39 countries around the world.

Representatives of the two programs received awards.

In 2023, the Organizing Committee awarded prizes to 18 organizations from 6 countries including: the United States (accounting for 2/3 of the prizes), New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Pakistan and Vietnam. Speaking at the Award Ceremony, Dr. Carla Hayden - Director of the Library of Congress emphasized: "Literacy is the path to happiness, health and comprehensive development of each individual. Today, the Library of Congress respectfully recognizes and honors 18 organizations that have made great contributions and strong commitments to improving literacy and disseminating knowledge globally".

The US Library of Congress Award is an international recognition of the Compassionate Bookshelf and Wisdom House Programs. To date, these two Vietnamese programs have built a network of 20,090 bookshelf (more than 1.1 million books) in more than 3,000 schools and communities and 168 community learning spaces in 06 countries (Vietnam, Malaysia, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, United States), providing completely free lifelong learning opportunities for millions of children and adults.

The Vietnamese Embassy in the US met with representatives of two programs.

Before attending the Award, the founders of the Humanity Bookcase and the House of Wisdom had a meeting with the Vietnamese Embassy in the United States, sharing their personal contributions to the reading community in Vietnam as well as around the world. Ms. Nguyen Thuy Hong, Counselor, Deputy Ambassador of Vietnam to the United States, said that she was very happy and proud to know about the award as well as the group's great contributions to the activities of promoting reading, promoting learning and improving the intellectual level of Vietnamese people. Hopefully, the success of this award will spread and encourage the reading movement in the community with the participation and contributions of organizations and individuals both at home and abroad. The Vietnamese Embassy in the US will actively and proactively connect to promote cooperation between Nhan Ai Bookcase and Ngoi Nha Tri Tri as well as Vietnamese reading promotion organizations with the reading community in the US and Vietnam, contributing to enhancing cultural-educational and people-to-people exchanges between the two countries, making practical and effective contributions to the Vietnam - US Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.

Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan, founder of the Humanitarian Bookcase and the House of Wisdom, said: “This award is for all the philanthropists, organizations, individuals, teachers, volunteers, and tens of thousands of people from many countries who have supported and joined hands to make the program. Being recognized and honored on an international scale by a prestigious and prestigious cultural and educational organization in the world also affirms the vision, mission of the organization and the value of the program that we have been tirelessly pursuing for many years.”

Introduction activities after the award ceremony.

After the Award Ceremony in the morning, sideline activities including exhibitions, introductions, sharing, and connections between the award-winning organizations took place very excitingly. As Dr. Carla Hayden - Director of the Library of Congress shared, these activities will open up many opportunities for cooperation between organizations that share the same mission with each other and with the Library of Congress, to promote equal educational opportunities for everyone, for the development of the community, the nation and humanity.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/sang-kien-khuyen-doc-cua-viet-nam-duoc-thu-vien-quoc-hoi-hoa-ky-vinh-danh-246987.html