Cambodia : On the Mekong, a Library Follows the Current

At the end of a tow rope, somewhere between O'Svay and Preah Romkel, a boat loaded with books changed banks. This is not a metaphor.

An Operation at the Water's Edge

On June 24, 2026, in the early morning heat of rainy season, the provincial team of the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam) Stung Treng Branch began towing one of its floating libraries from O'Svay port to Preah Romkel port, in the district of Borei O'Svay Sen Chey. A few hours on the Mekong to deliver a book-laden pontoon to a village that had never received anything quite like it.

The operation could have gone smoothly. It did not. Midway through the journey, the engine of the lead boat failed, causing a momentary loss of control. The situation could have turned to disaster. The team responded without panic — they seized the ropes of the stricken vessel and deployed four additional boats to push the entire structure from behind, until the pontoon reached its new berth intact and on schedule. A minor anecdote, perhaps. But also, in its own way, a summary of what DC-Cam has been doing for thirty years: moving forward on uncertain waters, without letting go of the rope.

Preah Romkel, Village at the Edge of the Map

Some geography helps to understand what this relocation actually means. Preah Romkel sits just a few hundred meters from the Lao border, nearly two hours from Stung Treng town, which is itself more than six hours from Phnom Penh. Residents live by the rhythm of the river — fishing, rice farming, the slow turning of seasons. Not so long ago, getting down to the Stung Treng market meant a full day by boat.

It is against this backdrop that the decision to deploy the floating library at Preah Romkel takes on its full weight. The commune had not initially been included in the deployment plan. It was persistent requests from villagers and the district administration that shifted the calculus. A joint study conducted by DC-Cam and local authorities ultimately concluded that the site offered the best logistical and river safety conditions, while enabling a natural link between the waterway and overland transport networks.

For the inhabitants of the surrounding islands — Koh Chheu Teal Touch, Koh Chheu Teal Thom, Koh Lngo — the pontoon represents something as concrete as a book might seem abstract in this context: a stable mooring point, a place to unload goods without ending up knee-deep in riverbank mud.

A Library, But Not Only That

The floating library concept is one of the most original initiatives in the DC-Cam network, which operates as an affiliate of the Queen Mother Library. Once fully operational, the installation will serve as a community learning center, offering a mobile library stocked with a diverse range of titles, accessible to adults and children alike. It is also designed to support the local economy by easing transit for residents across the islands and providing a modest anchor for tourism infrastructure where little existed before.

Yan Suntok, 71, First Deputy Chief of Preah Romkel Commune, made no effort to hide his satisfaction. He spoke of the schoolchildren who come to play by the water every day — with the library now installed on the pontoon, they will have the chance, he said, to pick up those books and read. He added a note of administrative realism: a maintenance committee will be formed, because the installation floats on water and must be monitored constantly during wind, rain, or shifts in river level.

Long Sinarong, 37, a fisherman and farmer from Krom Village, put it differently. He can now come and moor his boat, sit down to catch his breath, and read. In a region where days begin before dawn on the Mekong and often end in darkness, this is a modest promise. But it holds.

Two Grade 5 students from Preah Romkel Primary School, Eng Vanlida and Kim Chouchou, both eleven years old, captured the moment with an economy of words that outpaces any formal assessment. They want to learn Cambodian history on this pontoon, they said, if teaching programs are ever organized there. They will help keep the surrounding area clean. They are ready.

DC-Cam Beyond the Archives

The Documentation Center of Cambodia is best known internationally for its work preserving memory of the Khmer Rouge era — a founding mission that remains central to everything the organization does. But in recent years, DC-Cam has extended its reach toward forms of action more directly rooted in the daily life of rural communities. The floating libraries are among the most visible expressions of this evolution: they make knowledge into something tangible, moorable, transportable.

Funding for this deployment was provided by the Turkish Cooperation and Coordination Agency (TIKA) and the Embassy of the Republic of Türkiye in Cambodia — a quiet partnership, far from grand announcements, that reflects the breadth of support DC-Cam draws on to honor its field commitments.

In a country where the Mekong's river islands still hold largely untapped community tourism potential, the floating library plays a role that is as symbolic as it is practical. It says that these villages matter. That their children deserve books. That memory does not transmit itself only through archives, but also on pontoons drifting along the river, between one season and the next.

The Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), affiliated with the Queen Mother Library, maintains provincial branches across the country. Its headquarters is located in Phnom Penh, Street 256, Sangkat Chakto Mukh.