Introduction
St. Paul Institute (SPI) was established in 2009 in the middle of the rice field in Tramkok District, Takeo province where is located 64km away from Phnom Penh city along National Road Number 3. In that area, most people, both adults and the young people, were farmers or they had to engage in manual labour to earn a living. Hence, most of them had not had the chance to receive education. Even if they had, they could not afford to buy any books. Moreover, with limited knowledge, they did not know how to do research or obtain resources to gain more knowledge. Another issue was electricity. Back in 2009, power cut was common and internet was unavailable. Despite all these, the owner and the founder of SPI established a library inside the SPI campus with the objective to provide a proper place for the people in this area to read. Most importantly, it encouraged people to read.
Background of SPI’s library
SPI’s library was established in 2009. It is 1000 square meters with two big computer rooms. It has two floors. Apart from the two big computer rooms, we also have one discussion room and an open space with numerous books covering different genres. Desks, chairs and air conditioners, fresh air area are also available. The library is spacious. It is one of the biggest in the community as well as in Takeo province. It is open to all students, staffs, professors, high school students and people in the region to read. The purpose of the library is to help these people to increase their knowledge and provides a space for doing research.
Currently (2019), SPI library has 12,482 books. Every day, we have 30 to 40 students visiting the library during the academic year. In the library, our collection is based on the courses we offer in SPI which include Information Technology, Tourism Management, English Literature, Social Work and Agronomy. Particularly, we add more to our collection which will be related to general knowledge, new technology, social issues, history, literature, and Khmer studies. Furthermore, SPI library subscribes health newspapers, magazines, educational DVDs and CDs. We also have desktop computers with access to the internet. Books in SPI library are in Khmer and English.
The SPI Library is located in Angkorki Village, Tapam Commune, Tramkok District, Takeo Province (inside the campus of Saint Paul Institute).
The library will be opened every workday from Monday to Friday and will be closed during official Holidays.
Open hour will be from 7:30 am to 11:30 am and 13:00 pm to 5:00 pm.