In the slums of Phnom Penh, a tuk-tuk library gives children access to books
Since 2000, our "Mobile libraries program" enables children in isolated or vulnerable areas to access library services at home. On the outskirts of Phnom Penh, we have been operating a tuk-tuk library since early 2025, in partnership with Magic Librairies Foundation*. Its objective: to encourage a love of reading and improve literacy among 500 children and teenagers.
A persistent critical post-COVID situation
Close to the capital, makeshift dwellings have proliferated since the COVID-19 crisis. Job losses, the search for a better life, rising debt, and climate change are forcing Cambodians to leave rural areas. They settle near Phnom Penh, in one of the 191 slums identified to date. While the majority of children continue to attend primary school, school dropout rates are high and the transition to secondary school is a challenge.
Families live in very difficult circumstances, in precarious sanitary conditions. Children are the first victims and need support with their schooling to ensure they grow and develop in the best possible conditions.
Education and reading as a solution
By promoting books as a tool for academic and personal development, Sipar encourages literacy and the establishment of reading habits from an early age. We give children in slums the skills and knowledge they need to succeed in life.
As with all of its programs, Sipar will install micro-libraries at each site, managed by volunteers. By directly involving the local population in the project, this ensures the project's sustainability and relatively rapid autonomy, enabling the tuk-tuk to serve other slums in need in the future.
Two years to support 500 children
Drawing on his past experience in slums, Sipar travels weekly in the library tuk-tuk to eight new sites selected in consultation with local authorities. Since February 2025, Sipar has already offered weekly reading sessions to more than 340 children and provides 1,200 fiction and non-fiction books as well as educational games created by our teams.
The librarian-educators offer two-hour sessions that include storytelling, free reading time, educational and creative activities to support learning for those who need it, and a book lending service. Each child is personally monitored by our librarian-educators to adapt to each child's individual needs and support them in their academic success.
The goal is for each child to read two to three books per month and see an improvement in their academic performance.
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A big thank you to the Magic Libraries Foundation for its commitment to educating the most vulnerable. Discover the other aspect of this partnership: a project to promote reading in hospitals, also in collaboration with Magic Libraries, by clicking here.
*Magic Libraries Foundation is a Swiss foundation whose objectives include promoting the enjoyment of reading and literacy through reading.