Chey Library ~ Siem Reip Province, Cambodia 

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We are pleased to announce the completion of our newest literacy project - the construction and outfitting of Chey Library in Cambodia. This marks our 4th literacy project with Ponheary Ly Foundation, a nonprofit committed to empowering children and youth in Northern Cambodia with access to public school education. There are several systemic challenges with which Cambodian students continue to struggle, one being the complete absence of school (or public) libraries, and both WaterBridge Outreach and PLF are working hard to remedy this.

PLF has opened Learning Centers in four marginalized communities of Cambodia’s two poorest provinces, Preah Vihear and Siem Reap, where students can take various extracurricular classes to round out their education. English and computer classes, remedial Khmer and math classes, informal study groups, life skill workshops, and more. Each learning center has a library that is at the core of the students learning experiences. In addition to the new Chey Library, WaterBridge Outreach also supports libraries located in Romchek and Srayang as well as a community library in Knar.

The new library at Chey Learning Center is unique in that it will focus entirely on secondary school students, and completes PLF's  12 year journey in providing carefully curated book selections and resources for over 2,800 students of all grade levels in four communities.

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In Cambodia’s post-Khmer-Rouge reality, books are scarce. It is very rare to ever find books in students’ homes, and they aren’t read to as young children. PLF Learning Centers and their libraries play a crucial role in students’ academic development as well as foster a love of reading for pleasure.

Secondary students from the Chey area have had to bike over every other Sunday to their nearest Learning Center in Siem Reap town, which is a 12 km bicycle ride each way and wasn't optimal during the rainy season. The decision was made to establish a library for the 398 secondary school students in the Chey catchment by converting an unused storage building on the site.

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Chey Library brings essential learning resources to the students' doorstep, tailored specifically to their grades. The library is a key program piece that establishes Chey as a full PLF Learning Center. Leading the way is their librarian Yary, who has been trained by PLF's library team, getting to know the different inventories and resources, purchasing books and issuing library cards. Even before the official opening later this summer, students were signing up for library cards and borrowing boards games.

"For this new job, I feel very happy because I can help to share with students about books and have helped family life and for myself also," says librarian Yary. "Reading is important because reading gives a lot of knowledge and helps to feel better, reduce stress and have good mental health. This library is very important for Chey students to help with their study, acquire knowledge, ideas that are embedded in books to understand and help to work or encounter problems that are difficult to solve."

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WaterBridge Outreach: Books + Water, a 501(c)3 organization  is once again delighted to partner with Ponheary Ly Foundation on another much-needed literacy project that serves secondary school students in Chey, Cambodia.