Membership & Services:

• The National Library of Laos plays an important role in preserving and collecting Lao materials and foreign materials about Lao.  The Lao Ancient Manuscript Preservation Project has been operating since 1989, documenting the locations and subject matter of thousands of ancient texts, written in ancient Lao and Sanskrit and housed in monasteries all over the country.
• There are currently nine reading and resource centres and 44 reading rooms throughout Laos, under the administration of the Ministry of Education. The National Library Director serves as a consultant for these centres.  The National Reading Promotion Project, operated by the National Library, provides literacy services to these libraries, which are visited annually.
• The Library Director would like to see expansion of library branches and services in Laos, including provision of Internet access to libraries.
• Staff training and development is another priority.

• Other information provided by the director:
• Open to the public daily from 0800 to 1130 and 1400-1630.
• Annual membership fee is 200 kip (approx 4 cents, Canadian)
• Approximately 6,000 members as of Sept. 1999, with an average of 800 new members/yr.
• Most materials may be borrowed from the library for a period of two weeks.
• Manual count is done of all visitors and of all items borrowed. In 1998, the library:
• Lent 10,440 items
• Had 22,224 visitors

• The library has an active Childrens' Services department; in 1998 150 storytelling sessions were hosted in the library on Saturdays and Sundays and in schools and community centres in the Vientiane area. The National Reading Promotion Project, delivered to communities all over Laos, is a very successful program coordinated by the Library Director and delivered by Childrens' Services staff.

• The National Library operates a popular bookmobile program four days of every week. All areas of Vientiane are visited on a two-week rotating basis by one of three bookmobiles. In 1998, 1870 visitors to bookmobiles borrowed 12,696 items.
• The National Library of Laos depends upon financial support from foreign countries to run the Ancient Manuscript Preservation Project, the National Reading Promotion Project and the bookmobile service. Countries who have assisted the library in these initiatives are Germany, Australia and Japan.