Things to see in Hanoi - Libraries

The National Library

Located on Trang Thi Street, it is the country's largest library and was founded in 1919 and was first named after Pierre Pasquier, an Indochinese governor general. In 1939 during its most developed stage, the Pierre Pasquier Library contained over 90,000 books, 20% of which were in Vietnamese.

After France's defeat in 1954, it was transformed to the Central Library. And on June 26, 1957, the Central Library was formally renamed Vietnam's National Library. Over the past four decades, the National Library has continued to accumulate new domestic and foreign publications. It currently has over a million books and seven thousand newspapers and magazines, both Vietnamese and foreign. In addition, all of the Ph.D. and Masters' theses written by Vietnamese scientists, completed in Vietnam or abroad, are kept in the Library.

The National Library is one of Vietnam's cultural centers with the widest collection of international contacts. It regularly exchanges books and periodicals with more than 300 libraries and major scientific institutions in about 100 foreign countries and it is a member of the International Association of Libraries. Through the book exchanges and international cooperation, the library has been able to acquire hundreds of thousands of valuable books and periodicals from all over the world.

The library regularly holds talks on various aspects of life, the economy, culture, history, science and technology for interested parties. Speakers often include famous scientists, scholars and artists. The Library also gives seminars on famous figures and scientific issues. The National Library serves to monitor the specialization of the nationwide library system.

The Science and Technology Library

Located at 26 Ly Thuong Kiet Street.

The Social Science Library

Located on Ly Thuong Kiet Street

The Army Library

Located at 83 Ly Nam De Street

The Hanoi Library

Located at 47 Ba Trieu Street

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Excerpted from Hanoi: Past and Present by Nguyen Vinh Phuc, The Gioi Publishers, Hanoi, 1995

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Published on 12/8/03