Sipar, an NGO which promotes literacy, is planning to open a floating mobile library in Phat Sanday commune of Kampong Thom province’s Kampong Svay district next month, with the goal of encouraging the development of a habit of reading among the people who live on and along the Tone Sap Lake. The plan follows an earlier success in Kampong Chhnang province’s Kampong Leng district.

Kham Thann, programme manager of Sipar mobile library, said the NGO and philanthropists wanted the people in the target area to understand a wide range of topics that would be beneficial to their livelihoods.

“Through our mobile library project, we hope that more people, especially children, will develop the excellent habit of reading. We target mostly people in rural areas through access to books which are available through our mobile library,” he said. 

“Children also gain knowledge about many relevant subjects, such as understanding traffic safety, environmental issues, health and nutrition. We also include yoga lessons for them,” he added.

Sipar started their first mobile boat library in 2020 in Kampong Chhnang’s Kampong Leng district. 

Thann explained that the mobile library has between 500 and 3,000 books on a wide range of different subjects, for both children and adults. They can read the books at the library, or take them home for up to a week.

According to the NGO, as of December this year, Sipar has a total of 14 mobile libraries: nine trucks, three modified tuk-tuks, one boat and one motorcycle. They travel between 106 locations in the capital and seven provinces, and it is estimated that more than 17,000 people have benefitted from the service.