Dream Corps Libraries
In China's rural and urban migrant communities, families typically do not own books for children other than textbooks. In public libraries that only exist in county seats, thousands of books have to service hundreds of thousands of potential readers. The very few local school libraries are likely to remain closed most of the time. Even in the rare cases where books are made available, the living environment is, more often than not, inconducive to reading. Children are not encouraged to make reading part of their everyday life; extracurricular reading is especially rare, often seen as a luxury. Deprived of nourishment to their spirits, children are being limited in their imaginative development, academic progress, and life prospects. There is an immediate need to provide children growing up in these communities with books, to provide them with the necessary reading environment, to foster their reading ability and enthusiasm, so that they can face today's globalized information society with confidence and competence. Our library program is a response to this need.
Dream Corps' Approach
In our attempts to set up libraries in underprivileged communities, Dream Corps adopts a holistic approach: we mobilize all available resources in order to give the library a solid material, ideological, and institutioniontal footing.
Establishing a library requires support and participation of all parties: we actively communicate with all levels of government and education authorities, we closely coordinate with the local school and community to form mutual trust and build consensus.
Establishing a library requires books: we bring books and help to set up appropriate channels for acquiring more books.
Establishing a library requires more than books: we provide technical support and advice on library operation and management.
A library must remain open: we recruit librarians from the local community and work hard to maintain their employment stability.
A library must be rooted in the community: we publicize the library extensively to local families and promote the use of library as information center and public space.
Books are inanimate, reading brings them to life: we organize reading programs around the library and help local teachers and parents integrate reading into the lives of children.
Our volunteers are engaged in the following activities related to our library program:
Donating books
Furnishing the libraries
Renovating library space to create an environment friendly to children and conducive to reading
Providing financial support to the libraries and their librarians
Establishing, revising, and refining library management practice
Organizing reading activities for local children, youth, and adults
Promoting the use of library resources to the local community
