Vietnam: What is the library of a lower secondary school?

What is the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam?

Under Clause 1 of Article 15 of the Law on Libraries 2019:

Libraries of institutions of preschool education, general education or vocational education and other educational institutions

1. A library of an institution of preschool education, general education or vocational education or another educational institution is a library whose information resources serves learners and teachers of such educational institution.

2. The library of a preschool institution has the following functions and duties in addition to those prescribed in Article 4 of this Law:

a) Enrich information resources as appropriate to the age group and psychological characteristics of preschool children; and information/resources requirements from teachers, managers and educational programs of its institution;

b) Organize activities to familiarize preschool children with books and form reading habit in them; give instructions on how to use libraries, equip information retrieval and utilization skills for teachers and managers;

c) Fulfill other duties assigned by its institution.

3. The library of a general education institution has the following functions and duties in addition to those prescribed in Article 4 of this Law:

a) Enrich information resources as appropriate to learning and research activities of learners, teachers and managers, and to learning/teaching objectives, contents and curricula of each educational level or program;

b) Organize activities to encourage reading, form reading habit, and develop reading skill for learners; give instructions on how to use libraries, equip information retrieval and utilization skills for learners, teachers and managers;

c) Support learning, teaching and research, and organize other educational activities;

d) Fulfill other duties assigned by its institution.

4. The library of a vocational education institution or another educational institution has the following functions and duties in addition to those prescribed in Article 4 of this Law:

a) Enrich information resources as appropriate to learning and research activities of learners, teachers and managers, and to training objectives, contents and curricula of its institution;

b) Organize activities to encourage reading; give instructions on how to use libraries, equip information retrieval and utilization skills for learners, teachers and managers;

c) Fulfill other duties assigned by its institution.

Lower secondary schools are part of the general education system (based on Point b Clause 2 Article 6 of the Law on Education 2019).

Thus, the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam is a library whose information resources serve learners and teachers at such lower secondary school.

What is the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam? (Image from the Internet)

What are the requirements on the facilities for the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam?

According to Clause 3 of Article 17 of Decree 93/2020/ND-CP, the establishment of the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam must meet the following requirements on facilities:

- Being located at the center of an educational institution, providing facilitation for users, especially people with disabilities;

- Having enough space for storing information resources, implementing library operations, reading service areas, working zones for librarians and meeting other needs concerning processing of other library-related services;

- The reading space for library users must be at least 50 m2; connected with audio-visual rooms, computer labs, classroom bookcases. Open libraries and friendly reading spaces are encouraged;

- Having facilities and equipment designed for operational and functional activities performed by librarians and meeting library users’ needs;

- Ensuring the installation of specialized equipment and means designed for information resources preservation, security, fire safety and prevention purposes.

What is the quantity of information resources required in the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam?

Under Point a Clause 2 of Article 17 of Decree 93/2020/ND-CP, the information resources in the library of a lower secondary school in Vietnam are specified as follows:

- Textbooks, teachers’ specialized books and reference books, meeting the needs of learners and teachers at educational institutions:

+ As for preschools: Ensuring at least 02 volumes/student and 03 volumes/teacher

+ As for primary schools: Ensuring at least 03 volumes/student and 01 volumes/teacher, depending on grade levels;

+ As for lower secondary schools: Ensuring at least 04 volumes/student and 01 volumes/teacher, depending on subject groups;

+ As for upper secondary schools: Ensuring at least 05 volumes/student and 01 volumes/teacher, depending on subject groups;

- Newspapers, magazines, educational maps and visual aids, audio and visual materials, e-books, and other types of documents, which are suitable for students' age, learning needs and teacher’s reference requirements; ensuring that, as a minimum requirement, materials providing information closely connected to the school's teaching and learning programs according to the list of materials approved by the Ministry of Education and Training must be processed according to the library's operational rules and regulations.