Martyr doctor Dang Thuy Tram was born in 1942 in Hue city to an intellectual family with a medical tradition, but grew up in Hanoi. She died on June 22, 1970, on the battlefield in Duc Pho district, Quang Ngai province, at the age of 28. Tram’s diary was published in 2005 and has had a strong influence on domestic and foreign readers.

The Dang Thuy Tram Bookcase project was initiated early last year by the National Council of Vietnam’s Dang family in collaboration with the Soldier’s Heart Initiative, Vietnam Environment and Urban magazine, the Twenty-Years-Young Forever Foundation, and the Vietnamese Women’s Museum.

The project aims to support schools and promote reading culture, says Colonel, writer Dang Vuong Hung, President of the Soldier’s Heart Initiative and founder of the Dang Thuy Tram Bookcase project.

“We want to spread reading culture and the twenty-years-young forever spirit of martyr doctor Dang Thuy Tram, who was a role model with a great influence on young people,” said Hung. “The Dang Thuy Tram Bookcase is also a venue where we’ll invite authors and historical figures to interact, talk, and reward the readers with books that can change their lives.”

Although it is only a pilot program, six bookcases have been presented to schools in the provinces of Bac Ninh, Bac Giang, Lang Son, Tra Vinh, Ninh Binh, and Ho Chi Minh City. The 7th bookcase is in Hanoi. Preparations have been made for two more in Quang Ngai province, Hung told VOV.

The 7th Dang Thuy Tram Bookcase at the Cultural House of Khe Ngoai hamlet 3, Van Khe commune, has about 100 book titles and other auxiliary equipment.

“Since we had the idea of setting up a Dang Thuy Tram bookcase in the commune, I’ve worked closely with local leaders to select books of different topics for readers,” said teacher Nguyen Van Thuan, Principal of Van Khe High School. 

The model fuels students’ love for their homeland and gives them a better understanding of the life of martyr doctor Dang Thuy Tram, said Tran Thi Phuong Thu, a student at Van Khe Secondary School.

“There are many interesting books in the Dang Thuy Tram Bookcase, but I’m most impressed with the books about the our resistance war. Those publications explain how the war happened and made me more grateful to the martyrs, including Dang Thuy Tram. I was moved by the book about her,” said Thu.

Le Minh Nguyet, another student at Van Khe Secondary School, said coming to the Dang Thuy Tram library, she can read different types of books but she likes books on geography, literature, and math most.

At least 15 Dang Thuy Tram Bookcases, each costing 4,000-6,000 USD of donated money, are expected to be established at schools, cultural houses, and hospitals nationwide by 2025.