Nguyen Anh Tuan - Journey of spreading knowledge to every countryside
When he heard that I was looking for someone to write for the column “Artists from all over the world”, a friend texted me: Why don’t you look for Mr. Tuan Sach?” The way he called me Tuan Sach aroused my curiosity and my sympathy right away, because I am also a book lover. But after meeting him, I realized that his love for books is much greater than mine, because he is the one who founded the project “Intellectual House” and “Humanitarian Bookcase” nationwide, spreading the love of books and knowledge to many people.
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Cherry Blossom /Technique:Hong Toai• September 22, 2025
When he heard that I was looking for someone to write for the column “Artists from all over the world”, a friend texted me: Why don’t you look for Mr. Tuan Sach?” The way he called me Tuan Sach aroused my curiosity and my sympathy right away, because I am also a book lover. But after meeting him, I realized that his love for books is much greater than mine, because he is the one who founded the project “Intellectual House” and “Humanitarian Bookcase” nationwide, spreading the love of books and knowledge to many people.
Thanh Tien commune, the old Thanh Chuong district, now Tam Dong commune, Nghe An province, about 40 years ago was still a poor countryside. Talking to me about his childhood, he did not mention the lack of rice or craving for sweet potatoes, but said: Back then, he was "hungry" for books. There were so many things he wanted to know, wanted to discover about astronomy, science, history, art... but he did not know where to look, nor did he know who to ask. The knowledge in the old textbooks did not satisfy the studious little student.
With the desire to explore the horizons of knowledge, Nguyen Anh Tuan went to the South to study at university, then went to work. With the first money he earned, he bought books. Sitting with us among the full bookshelves of the social enterprise Nhan Ai Bookshelf in Ho Chi Minh City, he recounted: “After graduating, having money, saving a little money, I started thinking about doing something, the things I dreamed of 20 years ago. A space that has a library with thousands of books, teachers to teach me everything, and like-minded friends to learn from each other.
With a bit of Nghe's "craziness", he was determined to make his seemingly unrealistic dream come true. At first, he used his own money to buy books and bring them back to his old school, Thanh Tien Secondary School. When he had more, he continued to donate them to schools, agencies, units, and places he knew. Just like that, the first Charity Bookcases gradually took shape. But over time, he realized that if he worked alone, it would be too lonely, and the journey would probably not be long. Therefore, he started talking and convincing everyone to contribute.
I used to study for a master's degree abroad. When I went there to study, I realized that my knowledge from reading books was very poor compared to my international friends. That's why when I met Tuan and the Charity Bookcase program, I liked it right away. I found that developing a reading culture for children as well as for Vietnamese people is very valuable, exactly what I wanted. So I joined Tuan from the very beginning."
Mr. Nguyen Quoc Huy, a close associate of Mr. Tuan, shared
Since the first Bookcases were donated in 2016, many book trucks have followed, bringing knowledge to many places across the country. The successes of the Humanitarian Bookcases are the motivation to help him take another step, closer to his dream. Not simply a library, but a learning space, where all questions are answered, where knowledge and wisdom blend into life. The first intellectual house was established in 2018, right at his family's old house in Tam Dong commune. The first class was an English class, for children in the village. Remembering that class, Mr. Tuan is still very emotional.
The first few classes were very crowded, about 50-60 children. Volunteers taught for free, including local teachers, then teachers from Ho Chi Minh City and Hanoi. After that, we connected with young foreign teachers. And the children were very excited. Some of them used to be problem students, but after a summer with the teachers, they changed completely. On the day of parting, they went up the hill and picked a bunch of purple flowers as a farewell gift. When they got home, they saw the door closed, thinking the teachers had left, they put the flowers on the lock and cried. The teachers took pictures of those images and sent them to me, and I remember them forever and will never forget them.
Nguyen Anh Tuan
The success of the first model has inspired many other intellectual houses to be established across the country. For example, the Intellectual House in Thien Tan Commune, former Vinh Cuu District, now Trang Dai Ward, Dong Nai Province, with fun English classes, a library of more than 1,000 books, and a multi-purpose sports area that attracts a large number of teenagers and people. Or the Intellectual House at Dong Hoa B Primary School, Dong Hoa Ward, Ho Chi Minh City, where for more than 7 years, teachers have persistently built reading habits for students by encouraging them to write reading diaries and express their feelings about books. Collective activities, games, and book-related gifts are organized regularly, helping children love books and the beauty of knowledge from an early age. The youngest intellectual house was just launched in August 2025 at Dai Dinh Secondary School, Dai Dinh Commune, Phu Tho Province, with a library of thousands of books, many clubs, free classes and unlimited exchanges with leading domestic and international experts.
After nearly 10 years, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan and his colleagues have built a widespread Wisdom House ecosystem with thousands of members participating in its management. In each locality, Wisdom House has its own color. It can be foreign language classes, soft skills classes such as swimming, electrical safety, financial skills, personal development... It can be meetings, sharing knowledge, skills, and experiences of domestic and international experts in many fields. It can be a mini eco-hotel for teachers from far away to live and teach, or it can be a miniature museum to preserve local cultural and historical heritages... All are aimed at connecting and sharing knowledge to everyone.
To date, Mr. Nguyen Anh Tuan and his colleagues have built more than 30,000 bookcases (with more than 2 million books) in more than 3,300 schools and residential communities in all 34 provinces and cities of the country and some provinces in Laos, along with 350 Wisdom Houses - 350 completely free lifelong learning spaces in Vietnam and 5 other countries: Malaysia, Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the US. In 2023, Wisdom Houses and Compassionate Bookcases were awarded the Literacy and Knowledge Dissemination Award by the US Library of Congress, in the category of "Excellent Practice".
Since the first meeting, Mr. Tuan and I have met many times. Not because I often go to Ho Chi Minh City, but because he often goes to Nghe An. On his personal Facebook page, every few days he is seen in a new countryside. He travels a lot, sometimes giving away books, sometimes attending the launching ceremony of a House of Wisdom. I remember Lu Xun's saying: "There are no roads on the ground, people walk on them and they become roads.”. The journey of Mr. Tuan and his colleagues is the same, going forever to become a path, so that more and more people can access the newest, best, most quintessential sources of knowledge of humanity.
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