NATIONAL LIBRARY OF VIETNAM

An Overall View of the National Library of Vietnam

PHAM THE KHANGDirector, National Library of Vietnam

July, 2007

Administrative Structure of Vietnamese Libraries:Vietnamese Libraries operate under the Administration of

the Ministry of Culture and Information

Library Department is responsible for Policy Advisory The National Library of Vietnam is responsible for Professional Advisory

Vietnamese Library Association was set up in November 22, 2006 with the office located at the NLV’s campus

1/ Public Library System: The National Library of Vietnam (NLV); Libraries established by the People's Committees of all levels

Cities/Provincial Libraries: 64 District Libraries: 585 Commune Libraries Village Book Stacks: 7,000

Administrative Structure of Vietnamese Libraries (Cont.)2/ Academic Library System: University Libraries: 300 School Libraries: 19,000

3/ Special Library System: 218

Including: Libraries of State Bodies (Political Organizations, Socio-Political

Organizations, Social Organizations, Economics Organizations and Public-service Units);

Libraries of Scientific Research Institutes and Centers

4/ Military Library System: Academy/ Institutes: 53 Libraries and Reading Rooms of Armed Forced Units 1,300

NLV’s General Introduction NLV was founded in 1917 by the Governor General of Indochina

NLV is located in the heart of Hanoi Capital

NLV’s area is of 16,000 sq meter, with 7 centralizes air-conditioning buildings

NLV’s staffs:186 (145 Librarians, 1 Doctor, 30 Masters)

NLV’s Computer network: 10 servers & 200 work stations with internet connection

All professional activities have been automated using an Integrated Library System Software (ILIB)

NLV’s Website: http://www.nlv.gov.vn

NLV’s Tasks & ResponsibilitiesNLV has been the Center Library of Vietnam (under Library Ordinance,

2001)

To exploit documentary sources at home and abroad to meet the readers demands;

To receive copy right publications deposits at home according to the regulations, to build and preserve for long term the stocks of Vietnamese publications; to compile and publish the National Bibliography of Vietnam;

To organize the service of readers of all kinds

To undertake the cooperation and exchange of documents with libraries at home and abroad;

To conduct Scientific and Technological research projects in the field of Library & Information and apply new Scientific Technology on Library activities

To organize professional fostering courses for librarians and give librarianship instructions to libraries throughout the country

National CollectionNLV is the largest Library in the nation with approximately 1.3

million items housed on about 6 mile of bookshelves

Books Collection: Vietnamese: 334,280 copies Russian: 267,874 copies English: 99,057 copies French: 87,539 copies Chinese: 47,230 copies Sino-nom: 6,000 copies Others languages (Japanese, Spanish, Korean, etc.)Every year, the NLV acquires app. 14,000 titles of books in

Vietnamese and foreign languages to the collection

Periodicals Collection:11,000 titles of Vietnamese and foreign Newspapers and Magazines

National Collection (cont.) Indochina Collection:

The greatest collection in the region (53,901 volumes of books, journals and Newspapers published in French Indochinese territories from 1861 to 1954)

Doctoral Thesis Collection:11,000 Doctoral Thesis written by Vietnamese citizens at Vietnamese and foreign Institutions since 1954.NLV has digitized the abstract and full-text of the collection

Microfilm Collection:600 titles of Newspapers (10,000 meters) 10,000 titles of books published in Indochina before 1954 (in form of Microfiches)

Multimedia Collection:Tape, Video, CD-ROM, DVD, Abstract and Full-text databases

National Collection (cont.) Sino-Nom Collection:

The NLV’s Sino-Nom collection is diversified in content and types and can be seen among the big Sino-Nom collections in Vietnam

NLV started to collect Sino-Nom collection since 1954 The collection was catalogued and on service since 1963 The collection has been seen as the rare collection of the NLV with an

independent storage, one reading room with special preservation conditions NLV’s Sino-Nom Collection: About 1,000 titles

(298 titles manuscripts, 257 titles written in Nom, old Vietnamese scripts which was derived from Chinese scripts, Sino-Nom-Modern Vietnamese scripts, Nom-Modern Vietnamese script)

The Collection covers such fields as Literature, History, Geography, Medicine, etc.

Many titles were written centuries ago with high value. The oldest book was printed in 1763

NLV has compiled a Bibliography of the NLV’s Sino-Nom Collection ( by Prof. Ngo Duc Tho )

NLV’s ReadersIn principles, the NLV is open to the Public. However, due to its limited space and number of copies per titles, at present the NLV is only able to provide reading services to its registered members

Membership:+ Vietnamese University students (60%)+ Vietnamese University graduates and scholars (40%)+ Foreigners with valid passport

NVL issues about 30,000 membership cards annually

NLV receives an average of 2,000 visits per day

NLV’s Reading Room SystemsNLV provides both Open Stack reading service and on

request reading service in 13 Reading rooms:

2 Open stacks of Books in Vietnamese (Social Sciences & Humanities; Natural Sciences & Technology)

1 General Reading Room 1 Special Collection Open stack (Sino-Nom Collection) 1 Multimedia Reading Room 1 Friendship Open stack 1 Chinese Open stack 1 UN Documents Open stack (Sponsored by the UN) 1 English books Open stack (Sponsored by TAF/ U.S.A) 1 Reference Open stack 1 Librarianship Materials Open stack 1 Periodical Reading Room 1 Microfilm and Microfiche Reading Room

NLV’s Reading Services On-side Reading Services

The NLV offers both Open Stack reading service and on request reading service. However, it provides no lending service because of limited copies and over crowded clients

Reference Service: Information services: press clipping, subject

bibliographies Local History Bibliographies Readers’ assistance

NLV’s Reading Services Technical Service:

Setting up computer network Librarianship & IT training Software Installation Hardware Maintenance

Internet Access: (Multi media Reading Room ) 40 workstations of ADSL and Wireless net Software, Databases of special subjects Multimedia collection Audio-visual facilities

Reading Promotion Activities Topic Talks and Seminars

(1 every two months and on request)

Books and Images Exhibitions Exhibition of new books About 10 exhibitions per year on special occasions NLV or NLV cooperates with Embassies &

International Organizations in Hanoi

Reading Festivals (Since 2006)

In-house Publications

National Bibliography (monthly & annually)

General Bibliography of Vietnam

Vietnamese Library Journal

Standard Manuals on library profession: Description Rules for Books, Classification Table, Key words, Author’s Code, etc.

Professional Guidance NLV’s Sciences Research Division has

provided regular Technical assistances to lower levels libraries throughout the country;

NLV hold national workshops Librarian Further training New Library Standards & Technology training Professional Experiences Sharing workshops Annually and on requested

Current Major National projects Project entitled "Electronic Library"

Has been implemented at the NLV & 34 Major Provincial Libraries

All Libraries are equipped with a fully Library Automated System

The project is funded by the Budget of Vietnamese Government and Local Peoples’ Committee of all levels

Project of setting up a National Centre for Material Preservation at the NLV

Facilities equipped

International Cooperation NLV has become official member of IFLA & CONSAL since 2000

NLV has regular materials exchange relations with 122 Libraries and Information Agencies of 32 countries in the world.

NLV has a close relationships with the National Libraries of ASEAN countries, U.S.A, China, Japan, France, Spain, Australia, Russia

Every year, about 50 foreign delegations visit the NLV and around 30 NLV staffs attend Regional and International training Workshops and Conferences

NLV co-operate with International Organizations and Embassies in Vietnam to organize international training workshops and Books Exhibition annually

NLV is the Host Country for CONSAL XIV (2006-2009) NLV is the Host Country of CDNL-AO (2009)

International Cooperation (cont.) Current major projects:

DDC translation and training/ In cooperation with RMIT University Vietnam/ Funded by The Atlantic Philanthropies, U.S.A

English Books Donation/ Funded by The Asia Foundation, U.S.A Preservation Manuals translation and training/ Funded by The

Ford Foundation, U.S.A Microfilming of early Vietnamese Newspapers/ Funded by the

Centre for Research Library, U.S.A Digitization of Books in French published before 1954 at the

NLV/ Funded by French Government within VALEASE project Sino-nom Digitization/Funded by Vietnamese Nom

Preservation Foundation, U.S.A

Developing Strategy To become a standard modern Library of

Vietnam To apply International Standards in professional activities To become an electronic, digital library

To become a National Center for materials preservation

To expand International Cooperation with more Libraries and Information Agencies in ASEAN, ASIA, French, United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, Spain, U.S.A

Thank you!