To make the law library effective

(Baonghean) - Building legal bookcases at the grassroots level is one of the activities to enhance the dissemination and popularization of law among officials and people. However, at present, in some localities, due to the unreasonable location of legal bookcases, the types of books have not been updated in a timely manner, poor management, etc., leading to low exploitation efficiency.

On December 12, 2013, when we arrived at the People's Committee of Tuong Son Commune (Anh Son), through the guidance of a judicial officer, the local legal bookshelf was arranged in a corner of the library of the People's Committee. Compared to other types of books and newspapers, books related to law are very modest, only a few dozen volumes, arranged very messy in a small box, the book titles are facing inwards so it is very difficult to find. When we expressed our desire to read the Penal Code, Mr. Tran Sum, Vice President of the Association for Promotion of Education, Permanent Deputy Director of the Community Learning Center, and in charge of the legal bookshelf of Tuong Son Commune, honestly said that the Penal Code was too old... According to Mr. Tran Sum, legal books are few, not supplemented or updated in a timely manner, there are books that people ask to borrow but there are not available, many books are too old such as the Civil Code, Penal Code... so the number of people coming to read and borrow books and newspapers related to law has decreased significantly. Besides commune officials, the main target audience of the library is students who come to read stories.

Mr. Tran Sum with a law bookcase in Tuong Son commune (Anh Son).

In Tri Le commune (Que Phong), due to the lack of a reading room, the legal bookcase is located in the corner of the Justice Department, making it difficult for people to access. Ms. Nguyen Thi Lan, a resident of the market hamlet, Tri Le commune, said: If there is something, I go to the commune to ask the officials, because sitting and reading while the officials are working is not convenient, and borrowing books to read at home is not enough time. According to Mr. Lo Van Tung, a judicial officer of Tri Le commune, the purpose of equipping a legal bookcase is, in addition to helping officials equip themselves with legal knowledge to handle work better, but also for people to borrow and read to equip themselves with legal knowledge and apply it to life. However, because there is no separate reading room, no full tables and chairs... the efficiency is low, very few people come to borrow and read, mainly serving the commune officials. Moreover, the management of the legal bookcase is assigned to the judicial officials, while because they are busy with professional work, when people come to borrow books, the management officials are not present, which is also a reality.

The above shortcomings are not only in mountainous districts with many economic difficulties, but this is also the reality in most localities in the plains. Even in Thu Thuy ward (Cua Lo town), the legal bookshelf is only "borrowed" in a small corner of the one-stop transaction office which is already too cramped. According to Ms. Le Thi Thuy Van, a judicial officer of the ward, because they have to share a room, people, in addition to having to go to the hall to read, can only borrow books to take home, but this is also a disadvantage, because the number of books is limited, one person borrows them but another person does not have them to read.

Through a survey of legal bookcases in some communes, wards and towns in Nghi Loc and Do Luong districts, each bookcase has an average of 40-50 books related to marriage and family, civil, land issues, etc. In reality, the quantity and quality of books are not really rich, new books have not been updated promptly. Most of the legal bookcases currently lack documents directly related to people's daily lives such as land compensation policies, site clearance of the State or annual land price regulations, etc. Some bookcases in communes and wards are still formal, legal books are placed in the same cabinet with records and working documents of the People's Committee of the commune.

According to Ms. Tran Thi Thuy, Deputy Head of the Department of Legal Education and Dissemination, Department of Justice, there are currently 1,512 legal bookcases in the province (including localities with legal bookcases in blocks and hamlets). However, due to cramped and degraded reading rooms, many localities do not have space to arrange bookcases and have to take advantage of inconvenient places. In addition, the management of grassroots legal bookcases is currently a part-time job, mainly assigned to commune justice officers or office staff. These officers are often busy with professional work, so the management of legal bookcases has not received due attention. In addition, people do not have the habit of learning about the law themselves through grassroots legal bookcases, but only when they have legal problems or their rights are violated do they learn about them. Moreover, with the development of the media, people can learn about legal documents and policies themselves, so they rarely go to legal bookcases.

In order to improve the quality and effectiveness of the legal bookcase, localities need to further increase investment in the legal bookcase, especially updating new, concise and easy-to-understand books and documents for people to easily access. Along with that, it is necessary to propagate and guide people to understand that the legal bookcase is to serve all subjects, not a bookcase exclusively for officials; put the legal bookcase in convenient places, arrange enough tables and chairs to serve people to read. In addition, localities also need to pay more attention to improving the professional qualifications and library skills for current part-time officials...

Quang An