Related News
Sunshine spreads love through libraries
By Gao Liangliang and Pan Zheng |
February 7, 2009, Saturday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
FIFTEEN-YEAR-OLD Chen Wen leads a tough life in an AIDS village in Henan Province where both of his parents suffer from the disease. But life has become brighter thanks to Shanghai Sunrise Library in Minhang District.
Chen now has a library card so he can go to his village library that was set up by the Sunrise Library. The group was established by white-collars in Shanghai Garden residential community, now moving to Zhongshan Road.
The AIDS village, not identified, was the first to get a Sunshine Library. Now there are 10 more around China, thanks to the non-governmental organization in Minhang. Each has 3,000 to 8,000 new books.
Chen and others also get boxes of moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
One of the founders of Shanghai Sunrise Library is Fang Zhiyan.
When she first visited the AIDS village in Henan in 2005, she was shocked by the tragic scene -- about 10 percent of inhabitants there had died of AIDS from tainted blood transfusions many years ago. The village is poor, education suffers and there are few books.
Back in Shanghai, Fang decided to help create a library for the village. She got people together and with their donations, the first Sunrise Library opened three months later in March 2005 in that Henan village.
Fang knows that only one library is far from adequate to ignite hope and learning. The library also sponsors activities, such as writing and painting competitions, and hundreds of children take part each year.
The library pays a great deal of attention to selecting books. It usually contacts bookstores a month and a half in advance to draw up a book list; publishers help.
The library seeks new books rather than donated old books not only because of the quality, but also because of the additional costs of sterilizing, classifying and transporting used books.
The Shanghai Sunrise Library has raised about 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) and set up 11 branches in China. Chen's village library has issued more than 600 borrower's cards to children.
Chen now has a library card so he can go to his village library that was set up by the Sunrise Library. The group was established by white-collars in Shanghai Garden residential community, now moving to Zhongshan Road.
The AIDS village, not identified, was the first to get a Sunshine Library. Now there are 10 more around China, thanks to the non-governmental organization in Minhang. Each has 3,000 to 8,000 new books.
Chen and others also get boxes of moon cakes for the Mid-Autumn Festival.
One of the founders of Shanghai Sunrise Library is Fang Zhiyan.
When she first visited the AIDS village in Henan in 2005, she was shocked by the tragic scene -- about 10 percent of inhabitants there had died of AIDS from tainted blood transfusions many years ago. The village is poor, education suffers and there are few books.
Back in Shanghai, Fang decided to help create a library for the village. She got people together and with their donations, the first Sunrise Library opened three months later in March 2005 in that Henan village.
Fang knows that only one library is far from adequate to ignite hope and learning. The library also sponsors activities, such as writing and painting competitions, and hundreds of children take part each year.
The library pays a great deal of attention to selecting books. It usually contacts bookstores a month and a half in advance to draw up a book list; publishers help.
The library seeks new books rather than donated old books not only because of the quality, but also because of the additional costs of sterilizing, classifying and transporting used books.
The Shanghai Sunrise Library has raised about 10 million yuan (US$1.5 million) and set up 11 branches in China. Chen's village library has issued more than 600 borrower's cards to children.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 娌狪CP璇侊細娌狪CP澶05050403鍙-1
- |
- 浜掕仈缃戞柊闂讳俊鎭湇鍔¤鍙瘉锛31120180004
- |
- 缃戠粶瑙嗗惉璁稿彲璇侊細0909346
- |
- 骞挎挱鐢佃鑺傜洰鍒朵綔璁稿彲璇侊細娌瓧绗354鍙
- |
- 澧炲肩數淇′笟鍔＄粡钀ヨ鍙瘉锛氭勃B2-20120012
Copyright 漏 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
