| Libraries and Reading Program |
|
Rural children and adults often lack access to broad and diverse information sources. RCEF responds by sponsoring books for school and community libraries and to develop methods that promote the use of books. To date, we have worked with 6 villages to select books suited to their needs and are in the process of developing a training manual on ways to foster a life-long love of reading. For each site we partnered with, RCEF asked local teachers and/or villagers what kinds of books they wanted. In some cases, villagers even traveled to a nearby city with RCEF to pick out books. RCEF is purchasing books gradually so that the sites have time to gauge local readers responses and make adjustments to the content of the next batch of books. 
The project started out with a needs and feasibility assessment at RCEF project sites. RCEF volunteers taught at nine villages through the summer volunteer program, and each team was ask to conduct the assessment. The assessment focused on these areas:
Although there was sufficient funding to establish libraries in every site, we only chose sites we found suitable. We only considered sites where there was a strong desire and commitment to running a library. These sites submitted an application, signed a letter of intent, and agreed to invest in the hardware, such as a room and book shelves, themselves. The sites also had to have a reliable and committed person to manage the library and potential candidates were informally interviewed by our volunteers. Furthermore, they had to propose a feasible management system that would made the books readily available to students or villagers. In the end, we selected six sites. Of these sites, three are school libraries and three are community libraries. Local participation Ideally, local people should be highly involved in book selection to ensure that books are selecting according to the taste and needs of community members. We tried to solicit the participation of local people in different ways. We directly asked villagers, teachers and village leaders what their reading needs were, but they tended to give vague answers such as “books about agriculture”. This could only give us a very general idea of the type of books to buy, but only two people provided more specific categories or names of books. We also gave the school or village committee the option of purchasing books themselves, but they did not know of local places to buy discount books. There were only there sites where local people played a major role in book selection. For one community library, we were able to provide a comprehensive book list for the village head to choose from. For another community library, a local teacher and a village who volunteered to be the librarian went to a publisher’s warehouse in Beijing together with some RCEF volunteers to select books. In the third case, a teacher took the initiative to provide us with a list of desired books for his school’s library. In the absence of local participation, we selected books by choosing from booklists of organizations with more experience in building rural libraries, consulting children’s literature experts in China, asking friends to recommend their favorite childhood books and researching online. School libraries We wanted to make sure there were books suitable for different ages. Finding high quality books for the lower elementary ages which had pinyin, few words on each page and good illustrations proved most difficult. Many of the good books we did find for the lower elementary grades were translated from other languages. We also tried to include as much variety as possible in each library. Schools libraries in rural China are predominantly filled with academic books such as study guides, collections of sample essays, reference books and sample tests. We selected books related to the school curriculum as well, but found ones that would be more attractive to children. For example, we chose one book called You Can Be An Inventor Too, which tells interesting stories of past inventions, imagines potential future inventions and gives inventing tips ranging from where to find inspiration to how to get a patent. The libraries also have fun math and science books that use formats like comics, games, stories and fun experiments to help students learn. We selected work by classic authors students learn about in school, but editions with attractive illustrations or unique book sizes and covers, hoping that this might attract students to pick them up. A very large proportion of the selected books are not directly related to the curriculum at all. These include a wide range to cater to the interests of different children: story books, literature and poetry, history, translated foreign books etc. Some, such as popular youth science fiction series, you would never expect to find in a rural school library. A lot of the books have illustrations. Village libraries Like the school libraries, we also tried to strike a balance between interest and practical use when selecting books for village adults. Books selected to attract the interest of villagers include novels (especially wuxia novels), biographies, books about history and politics etc. Other books were chosen to serve real needs of villagers, such as books on law, agriculture, health and nutrition and parenting. Villagers had to be more involved in the selection of these books because the practical needs in each village are different.
We tried out different methods for purchasing books. Here are the advantages and disadvantages of each: Warehouses of publishing companies You can go directly to a publisher’s warehouse, browse through books and buy them on the spot. A lot of books are 70-80% off, making this the cheapest source of books that we know of. However, the selection of high quality books is limited. You have to spend a lot of time rummaging in order to find good ones. It takes at least half a day to go through a warehouse even with several people working together. Bookstores Most bookstores do not have very good discounts, nor do they have the best selection. We only purchased a few books from bookstores. These were mainly books that were out of print or difficult to fine elsewhere. Hong Ni Ba Hong Ni Ba is an organization run by children’s literature connoisseurs that promotes and sells high quality children’s literature and promotes reading to and with children. They selected books according to our specifications for specific sites. Before we purchased the books, they invited us to their office, showed us the books and explained the reason for choosing each book. The books were of very high quality and were grade level appropriate, and the whole collection included a lot of variety. The prices at Hong Ni Ba are similar to online stores. Certain books are slightly more expensive, but on the whole, the expertise and wonderful service they provide makes it more than worthwhile.
Ordering from the internet In our experience, ordering from the internet is the best method when you already have particular books in mind. Needless to say, the selection is vast, and books on the internet are usually cheaper than in bookstores. We require that the schools or villagers provide a suitable space with necessary hardware for the library. Almost all sites actually have a proper room with bookshelves, but a couple have had to use more creative methods. One school without a room to spare has almost the whole collection of books in circulation among the students at all time. The school later created a physical library, complete with adjustable bookshelves so that the books can be placed according to the heights of children of different ages. One village decided to have a “closed-library”, which means that only the librarian can enter the library and retrieve books for readers whenever they request books from the booklist. This is mainly to protect the books, but also partially because they have no shelves, making it inconvenient for readers to retrieve books themselves. In every site, the books are categorized and labeled. We also encourage school libraries to cover the books in transparent plastic wrap to decrease wear and tear.
Library management and usage We have followed up on library management and usage through site visits or at least through occasional phone conversations. All of the libraries maintain regular opening hours and make the books available for students to borrow. The book selection seems to be popular among the students and we have gotten positive feedback from the local teachers and librarians. Most of the sites also use other strategies for encouraging library usage and improving students’ reading skills. In one library, the librarian has stuck labels in the books for students to share their opinions about the book and encourage each other to read. One of the schools has set up book corners in each classroom to make the books more accessible to students and to allow students to share their own books with their classmates. That school also plans to organize speech competitions in which students will introduce and critique a book they have read in front of an audience. Another school has students take turns to work as librarians. They have a “good books” section in their library. Students can place their favorite books there to recommend them to others. RCEF has staff working year round in one of the schools and they have started a school-wide reading program. The first step has been to implement daily “free reading” periods in every grade. During the free reading period, all students and teachers read books of their own choice. Nearly all of the library books in that school are in circulation at any given time. One community library has been exceptionally successful in encouraging reading in the village. Book lovers in the village came together to elect a library committee which is in charge of promoting and helping to manage the library. The committee members are very enthusiastic and have been going door-to-door with booklist in hand to encourage villagers to read. They are planning to organize gatherings for readers to share what they have learned and recommend books to each other.
|
| Related Information | ||
|
||
|
||
|
||
| Read the Newsletter |
||
|
