Having devoted the past 20 years, and possibly the rest of his life, to “Bringing Books to the Countryside,” Nguyễn Quang Thạch became the first Vietnamese recipient of UNESCO's King Sejong Literacy Prize in 2016, an award honoring those who open minds.
Mr. Nguyễn Quang Thạch fights day and night for his dream
The ‘Bringing Books to Rural Areas’ program was the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training’s sole nominee for UNESCO’s King Sejong Prize. On 1-9, UNESCO officially announced winners from Vietnam and Thailand. Nguyễn Quang Thạch (41) received the award representing ‘Bringing Books to Rural Areas’ and the Center for Knowledge Assistance and Community Development, which he founded and directs.
“Farmers are determined to change—surely the education sector can do the same?”
In the award notification letter, Qian Tang, UNESCO's Assistant Director-General for Education, said: “The jury highly appreciates the program's initiative to focus on building libraries in disadvantaged rural areas to help literate people practice reading.
Moreover, the program has established more than 9,000 libraries across rural Vietnam over the past 10 years with very limited funds and reliance on book donations.”
On 2-8, just 15 minutes before UNESCO called to inform him of the award, Thạch had sent a letter expressing his hope to implement “Bringing Books to Rural Communities” in India. The letter was sent to the Indian Embassy in Vietnam, the Indian Library Association and the director of India’s Pratham Books.
As soon as he received UNESCO's notification, his first thought was a trip to India, where 200 million children had never owned a book because prices were too high.
Beginning to reflect on rural children's “right to read” at 20, Thạch spent his youth developing the “Books for Rural Areas” plan. Years of tireless work in Thái Bình building the first properly organized book collections, followed by his walk across Vietnam in 2015, attracted domestic and international attention. Yet he was dissatisfied because the results fell short of his expectations.
Deprivation, skepticism, ridicule, and occasional discouragement—there is no hardship Thạch has not faced. Yet over more than 10 years, “Bringing Books to Rural Areas” has never lacked companions: Dương Lệ Nga, the teacher who established many bookcases with him in Thái Bình; Uông Hải Minh, a bright, book-loving schoolgirl who contributed 240.000 đồng/year; the family of his close friend Uông Minh Thành, who hosted him for four consecutive years in Thái Bình as he expanded the bookcase models; and Nga Thi, a woman who sold bánh mì every weekend in Canada to contribute 40 million đồng for bookcases…
So many people held his hand through hard times. Today, more than 9,000 bookshelves have been established across many provinces, with more than 7,000 additional ones planned in Nam Định alone.
Nguyễn Quang Thạch brings not only books to rural areas but also a love of reading to farming families previously unfamiliar with books. Advocacy at different levels appeared successful, but the “library revolution from within education” he has long nurtured remains a very difficult path.
“Tens of thousands of farmers have each contributed VND 50,000 per year to build thousands of bookcases for their children. By staying in rural areas for the sake of children's reading, I have seen farmers act decisively to change. How could the education sector fail to do the same?” he said.
Joy was immediately followed by sorrow
Concerns followed immediately after the joy of winning the award, Thạch confided:
“The countries receiving the King Sejong Prize are all developing nations. Developed countries instead aim for awards recognizing more significant contributions to humanity.
Before my joy had faded, my heart filled with deep sadness, because if programs like “Bringing Books to Rural Areas” had been implemented earlier, decades ago, Vietnamese people today could aspire to greater contributions.”
“Do not only ask what Vietnamese people do for their country; also ask what they do for humanity,” he said of an aspiration.
And while many people still see Mr. Thạch as a “savior” bringing books to rural areas, UNESCO highly values “Bringing Books to Rural Areas” precisely for its community character, rather than as an individual's effort.
‘In keeping with the principles of sustainable development, every community must take responsibility for itself rather than wait for a savior. I have always believed that we must awaken the community's conscience so that each person brings books back to their own hometown,’ Nguyễn Quang Thạch said.
The King Sejong Prize targets literacy programs worldwide, while “Bringing Books to the Countryside” aims to “eradicate reading-culture illiteracy.” According to Thạch, it is time to redefine “illiteracy” in modern society.
“Today, literacy should be understood as helping people acquire knowledge so they can keep pace with development. Knowing how to read but refusing to read books will not enable anyone to contribute much to society,” he said. The logo of Rural Books features footsteps carrying books to remote regions. Those footsteps belong to none other than Nguyễn Quang Thạch, who walked 1,750 km from Hanoi to Ho Chi Minh City to awaken the community.
His emerging dream is to walk 1,300km from New Delhi to Bombay to bring reading opportunities to millions of Indian children. Asked skeptically, ‘Are you healthy enough for this arduous journey?’ Thạch replied: ‘Even if I die along the way, I will have no regrets.’ Few people speak so lightly of death.
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