Running the machine overnight, adding millions of books
In the early days of September, when many parents still had to run through many bookstores to find each missing book, at Quang Nam School Equipment and Printing Joint Stock Company, Tam Ky ward, Da Nang, workers continuously worked overtime, working through holidays and nights to complete orders to serve the 2026-2027 school year.
The business said it is deploying the printing of about 7.7 million copies of textbooks (SGK) and homework books. In the past 3 days alone, about 300,000 copies have been printed and supplied to serve city students.
Talking to Lao Dong Newspaper, a representative of a book printing and distribution business in Da Nang said that not only Da Nang, many printing units in the Central and Central Highlands regions are simultaneously increasing capacity.
Currently, there are 6 units participating in additional printing orders in the Central region, averaging about 800,000 copies per unit. Thus, millions of books will continue to be brought to the warehouse of the Education Publishing House in Da Nang before being distributed to localities that are in shortage.
Units are running at full capacity to shorten printing, rolling and transportation time. However, textbooks still have to go through all quality checks before reaching students" - a business representative said.
According to the plan, the additional book volume will be released to the market from the beginning of September to September 16.
Vietnam Education Publishing House also said that in just the first 6 days of September, it supplied about 2.5 million more books nationwide, of which Da Nang market received an additional 58,032 copies. In September, the unit plans to continue printing about 17 million copies and complete the second semester books by the end of the month.
Da Nang mobilizes many sources to soon have enough books
Explaining the current scarcity of books, printing enterprises believe that it does not mainly stem from printing capacity but occurs locally in some localities, some book titles during the time when demand increases sharply at the beginning of the school year.
In previous years, many sets of textbooks were used together, but this year only one set of books "Connecting Knowledge with Life" is used, leading to other sets of books being in stock. Distribution links have become cautious, registering lower quantities than the actual demand, due to concerns that there will be changes next year.
When small agents, large agents and regional distributors are cautious about ordering, as soon as demand increases rapidly, a local book shortage may appear" - a business representative analyzed.
Reality at some bookstores in Tam Ky ward shows that, to date, parents and students still have to find and buy individual books. Some History and Geography books and homework books are often reported to be out of stock.
Ms. Le Minh, owner of Nhan Van Bookstore, Tam Ky ward - said that the business has imported a large amount of books since the beginning of summer, but actual demand is still exceeding expectations. The bookstore is continuing to contact general warehouses to import more goods and expects the supply to stabilize in September.
According to the Da Nang Department of Education and Training, as of September 8, the whole city still lacked 39,593 sets of textbooks, equivalent to 7.26% of the demand.
The book shortage situation makes some schools have to find temporary solutions, such as photocopying materials for students to use temporarily. Some other schools mobilize old books, exploit book sources in libraries or lend them to students for use while waiting for supplementation.
