A library project has been re-initiated to further bring joy to, and ease pain for, child patients at a hospital in Ho Chi Minh City.

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Children who are receiving medical care at Pediatrics Hospital 2 in District 1 are now treated to a clutch of activities and loads of fun under a resumed library project called “Thu Vien Xanh” (Blue Library).

The project resumption results from a joint effort by the Vietnam Publishers Association and the Ho Chi Minh City General Science Library.

Under the project, a session with numerous activities including book and comic reading, storytelling, expressing one’s feelings, puppetry, painting, and coloring will be organized on the last Saturday of each month.

The kids will also be showered with gifts at the sessions.

Around 100 child patients and their parents partook in the project resumption ceremony on Saturday last week.

The project was conducted quite effectively at the hospital back in 2010 and was wholeheartedly embraced by the children and their parents.

However, its diverse activities then shrank to reading only, which was offered at the hospital’s departments, due to financial difficulties.

Work to revive the project has been done since early this year with assistance from the Vietnam Publishers Association’s southern representative office and Room to Read.

Along with reading, scores of outdoor activities are now offered as part of the resumed project.

Room to Read is a U.S.-based organization which works in collaboration with communities and local governments across Asia and Africa to nurture literacy skills and a habit of reading among elementary school children, and support girls to complete secondary school, according to its website.

The library currently boasts over 1,500 books and magazines, most of which are provided by the General Science Library.

According to Mai Loan, one of the library’s staffers, who has been involved in the project since its infancy, the child patients, their parents and the hospital staff are all upbeat about the resumption.

“Reading and other fun activities serve as a great remedy for the children who are receiving long-term, painful treatment at the hospital. The activities also provide them with life skills, while reading can also partly fill the knowledge gaps caused by disrupted education stemming from lengthy hospitalization,” Loan noted.

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