Floating library brings humanistic messages around the world

Visitors and readers on the ship named Logos Hope Floating Library when it docked at Puntarenas port (Costa Rica) Photo: AFP

The German-based NGO Good Books for All (GBA) launched the floating library project in 2019 as part of its humanitarian mission to spread knowledge and promote cultural exchange.

The books that Logos Hope offers are mainly in English, including books for leisure reading, professional reference materials, books for personality and personal development, books about different global cultures. Those who attended the event said that this place contains many different versions of novels by Jane Austen, Marcel Proust, etc. Not only limited to the storage space, many places on the Logos Hope ship are also decorated according to the book fair theme.

The Logos Hope admission fee is 1 Euro for people aged 13-64. Books are sold at very low prices. Most of the books in the Logos Hope floating library are for sale, but Logos Hope also donates books to local libraries and buys books from local publishers to sell at later stops on its journey. Explaining the price, Logos Hope ship manager Edward David said: “We do this to make sure that everyone can participate and almost everyone can buy. So wherever the ship goes, we want to create cultural and intellectual exchanges between lands.”

Therefore, when becoming a passenger on the ship, everyone will be able to participate in book exhibitions, exchange and share with book clubs, and experience services from basic to high-end of maritime tourism. At each location, the ship will stay for about a month to satisfy the passion of "bookworms" of different ages. Logos Hope is not simply a floating library serving tourism purposes. The ship also brings volunteers to difficult, underdeveloped areas of some countries in Africa to support food, drinks and improve people's knowledge througheducational activities about books.

The Logos Hope ship was put into operation in 2009.

Recently, the ship stopped in the Gulf city of Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates). Compared to previous years, the Logos Hope book fair has invested more in both books and sightseeing experiences. The book fair still attracts a lot of people in the countries it visits. During its visit to Lebanon in November 2022 alone, the number of visitors reached 50,000. From January to May 2022, the Logos Hope book fair sold more than 10 million books. The ship has set foot in 76 different territories. Previously in 2019, before the Covid-19 pandemic, the Logos Hope ship visited 160 countries, of which Singapore was the only country in Southeast Asia. In 2023, the Logos Hope ship is expected to reach 600,000 visitors. To date, Logos Hope has welcomed nearly 50 million book lovers since the program began.

“Logos Hope, you may know and you may have heard a lot, we share knowledge, help and bring hope to people around the world . What we are really trying to do, is the least we can do, is to share knowledge to help people,” said Nidhin Sebastian, Director of the Logos Hope Floating Library.

Logos Hope also provides simple services to the communities they work in, such as visiting nearby hospitals, schools and orphanages, and providing a variety of care and aid to the community. From its original purpose of bringing books to remote areas, now, as modern technology has gradually reduced the culture of reading, Logos Hope has a new mission of bringing back the love of learning.

Thai Anh

Source