One day, Nguyen Tu Anh, 37, felt a bit worried. If it rained heavily, the books he had just received from an acquaintance would get wet.

These were some of the books he had collected to establish 1,000 free libraries for children in remote areas. 

Believing that children in remote areas need knowledge to improve their lives, he decided that he would help them by providing access to books.

After returning to HCM City, Anh immediately kicked off a campaign to collect books. He spent his own money to buy books of different kinds.

He spent time collecting and packing the books, then carrying them to remote areas to donate to children. At that time, Anh thought that the books would help the children study better.

After many years of working alone, Anh’s humanitarian activity has spread throughout the community. After a period, he gathered a contingent of friends sharing the same willingness to build 1,001 libraries in remote villages.

Anh calls his team ‘Chu nhat yeu thuong’ (Beloved Sunday). The team gathers every weekend at a 90 sq m house in Thu Duc City to classify, pack and send books to places that have a demand for free books.

“We ate running 5-6 library systems, including libraries at schools, at village cultural houses, family libraries, and religious facilities such as churches and pagodas, and even prisons,” he said.

In addition to receiving books from donors, the team uses the money of members to buy many kinds of books - history, literature, art, comics, educational books on skills, personality, sports and foreign languages.

To date, Chu nhat yeu thuong has given 1 million books of different kinds. 

Since the beginning of 2022, the team has donated more than 100,000 books. Books are carried to the cities and provinces from the north to the south.

Chu nhat yeu thuong now has thousands of members throughout the country and 600 libraries have been built. Tu Anh and his team go to villages in remote areas 2-3 times a year to organize book festivals for children.

Chu nhat yeu thuong has received more than it expected. A S’tieng ethnic minority student has become the first university student in his hamlet.

Ha Nguyen