A New Community Library Opens its Doors in Prey Veng
Over 1,200 children in Peam Ro district now have free access to books, quiet study space and weekend reading clubs.
On Saturday morning, the sound of turning pages filled a freshly painted classroom in Peam Ro district as KAPE and the Provincial Office of Education opened the area's first dedicated community library.
The library — stocked with more than 4,000 Khmer and bilingual titles — is the result of an eighteen-month partnership between KAPE, local commune councils and a network of village reading volunteers. For many of the children who arrived for the opening, it was the first time they had ever borrowed a book to take home.
Built around the way children actually read
Rather than a silent reference room, the space was designed as a living, social place. Low shelves keep books within reach of the youngest readers, a carpeted corner hosts daily story circles, and a small maker table lets children illustrate their own short stories.
"A book in a warehouse helps no one," said the district education officer at the ribbon-cutting. "A book in a child's hands, every single day, changes a future."
When a child reads for pleasure, everything else in school becomes easier. That is the whole idea behind this library.
What comes next
Over the coming term, KAPE will train twelve community volunteers to run weekend reading clubs and a mobile book-box that rotates between three neighbouring villages without a library of their own. Reading assessments will track how borrowing habits affect literacy through the year.
4,000+ titles in Khmer and English
12 trained community reading volunteers
A mobile book-box serving 3 outlying villages
Weekend clubs for early-grade and upper-primary readers