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I never stop being astonished at what Thomas Stader and the Library Project accomplish. TLP is a testament to the power of good social marketing. More importantly the group delivers more than it promises.
Here is a letter from Thomas about their recent work:
I am so proud of what The Library Project has accomplished over the past three months. We have far exceeded The Library Project’s goals and expectations. There is so much to share – from an incredible and growing list of elementary schools which have benefited from new libraries to how you can get involved in helping to improve the lives of China’s rural children.
Before we start sharing our library’s successes, I would like to discuss how The Library Project is providing assistance to the people affected by the recent earthquake in China. On May 12, 2008 China experienced a 7.9 earthquake in Sichuan Province, located in central China, 70,000 people died, and over five million people were left homeless. Thousands of elementary schools were damaged in Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi Provinces. The Library Project will continue to do all we can by providing books and libraries to elementary schools and orphanages by way of our new 2008 Earthquake Program. The Library Project will be providing our first libraries to six “tent schools” located 25 km from the epicenter. To learn more about this program, please click here.
Over the past three months The Library Project created twenty-five school libraries and donated more than thirty thousand books. Each of the twenty-five schools received a wide range of high quality children’s books including: history, science, short stories, fairy tales, reference books and comics. We also provided a full set of children’s encyclopedias for older students and pinyin language books for the kids just learning to read. The Library Project also provided colorful child-safe tables and chairs, posters and a world globe to all the classroom and/or library rooms.
These fabulous new libraries are located throughout China in the countryside of Shaanxi, Anhui, and Gansu Provinces. At each library site, The Library Project held book drives, which collected over thirty thousand quality second-hand books from local donors. We also purchased over ten thousand first-hand books from Xin Hua Books Stores at just $1 a book.
In addition to books and supplies, the school librarians received library management training. Since most rural elementary schools have never had a single book in their libraries our Librarian Training Program gets them up to speed starting day one.
The Library Project is very happy to announce that Scott Perkins and Nicholas Ingleton have joined our Board of Directors. Scott Perkins is President and CEO of Connectify Networks based in San Francisco, California. Nicholas Ingleton has lived in Asia for 50 years and currently is a director of Aston Holdings (Overseas) Limited in Hong Kong and Aston Associates Limited in Beijing. I am honored to have them a part of our growing team.
In addition to providing libraries to twenty-five elementary schools in rural China, we have had over twenty small awareness and fundraising events since March. Our volunteers hosted most of these events around Asia and the world. For example, Celia held an all women’s wine tasting in Beijing that raised enough funds for one library. Siok Siok Tan has been doing charity screenings of her new documentary on the 2008 Beijing Olympics, “Booming Beijing” and raised enough funds for five libraries. Sophia and Eric organized an event at Kommune (great Ozzie BBQ) and a lecture on ”rural education in China” at the Glamour Bar, both in Shanghai. We raised enough funds at these two events for libraries in two different rural elementary schools. I would also like to thank everyone that came out to our San Francisco, Phoenix and New Jersey events. We raised enough for seven libraries during that USA fundraising run! Finally, a huge thank you goes out to Napoleon and Marcel in Hong Kong for organizing our lecture at Web Wednesdays and the XL Results Foundation. We raised enough for three libraries at these events. Thank you everyone for your hard work and dedication!
WE NEED YOUR HELP
There are three ways to get involved:
Help by spreading the word. You can help out in so many ways. Forward this newsletter to your friends, family members and coworkers, make a post on your MySpace page, blog to help raise awareness for The Library Project, or join our Facebook Group by clicking here. You can also help by hosting a small event at your home, work or local restaurant. . If you need help organizing a fundraiser, please contact me anytime at tom at library-project.org. Thank you!
Help by volunteering. You can make a huge difference in the lives of countless children in the developing world by becoming a volunteer. There are so many different ways to volunteer: you can throw a wine tasting or dinner to introduce The Library Project to others, hang a poster above the water cooler at your office, or introduce us to your company’s HR Department.
Help by making a donation. Without money, we can’t buy books. At a dollar a book, most of us can afford to buy 10, 20 or even 100 books. Make a donation and help bring the gift of education to countless children. Our libraries generally contain about 500 – 1000 books, thus every donated book (or dollar) helps!
Lastly, please check out some of our new products. We created 50 book, 100 book, 250 book and 500 book gift cards available at $1 a book. Each card also has a beautiful picture of a library we have donated. The gift cards are a perfect gift idea.
The Library Project is a non-profit organization. Your donation is 100% tax deductible. Thank you in advance for your kind support of our efforts.
Sincerely,
Tom Stader
The Library Project
Founder
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Cal Poly, home of one of the best international MBA programs, and a great China MBA blog, has arrived. On youtube, at least. The video offers a peak at the ten-day trip the 40 intrepid MBA students and professors took across China and into Beijing, Macau, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Guangzhou and features such places as the forbidden city in Beijing, the Sands Casino in Macau, and Shenzhen and Shanghai factory visits.
Thanks to Steve Rodger and Kooltree productions for putting this together.
Recently, I was able to complete an interview with Thomas Stader, founder of a Chinese charity organization that helps to build libraries. Here are his words about some of the latest work the Library Project has been working on.
Can you tell us a little bit about the Library Project?
The Library Project provides books and libraries to under-financed countryside elementary schools in China.
I founded The Library Project because I found that most countryside elementary schools in China were lacking books that the children could physically read. What I mean by that is, most books in a countryside elementary school were written for university and high school students. They also lack any kind of reading area for the children to curl up with a book. What we do is very simple, we donate colorful, relevant, hi-quallity books to countryside elementary schools, while also ensuring that they have a safe and fun area to read the books in.
I understand that often children’s libraries in China aren’t often stocked with good children’s books and are often cramped or uncomfortable. Can you tell us more about that?
In general, we have found a complete lack of children’s books with PinYin for young learners. A child absolutely needs PinYin to read during grades 1 – 3. So that is our first obstacle that we must overcome. Our second is a complete lack of a comfortable library for the children to gather as a class and read a book. Most schools have a room set aside for a library, but they don’t have the funding to fill the room with furniture.
What we have found is, once we bring books that the children can read, along with tables and chairs for a library, the children love it.
Cool. I understand you’ve made a lot of big developments in the past year, right?
Yes we have. We have provided our first ten libraries, with plans of reaching a goal of over 80 by the end of 2008.
That sounds like a big commitment. Isn’t it costly to build a library?
The cost is quite low. Most libraries will cost between 4,000 and 8,000 RMB. This includes hi-quality Chinese language children’s books, colorful chairs, sturdy tables, globes, plants, posters, and all logistic costs such as trucks.
What all goes into the building of a library? What kind of cost is there in terms of money, time, and other resources?
From beginning to end, it takes about one month. That includes our Pre-Assessment, purchasing of books and furniture, and final delivery of the library. We usually have a group of about 5 – 15 volunteers helping with the final delivery. Once we set up the library, we introduce the children to their new library and play games. It’s a lot of fun for both the children and the volunteers.
I also understand that you cooperate with local charities to create community support and interest for your project. Have you found that local communities and organizations are helpful and willing to be involved?
That is true. We have partnered with the Xi’an Charity Association to provide libraries to the regions of the ShaanXi Province that they are working in. They are a huge help. We also run community based book collections through Aston English of China. They are one of the largest private English language schools in China, with schools in over 40 cities. We hope to hold book drives in each of those cities annually, and then take those Chinese language children’s books and get them into countryside elementary schools. Aston English has made a major commitment to giving back in China.
I understand you recently made a trip to Shanghai and had some exciting opportunities crop up for you there. How exactly did all of that come about?
That is true. The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in Shanghai has been absolutely amazing. On November 24th, the Smith School of Business hosted a charity fundraiser in Shanghai that raised enough funds to provide twelve schools with full libraries. They got Black and Decker, Microsoft, Storm Case, Grainger, Grace, Under Armour, The Children’s Place, Jaguar, Avon, and Land Rover, among many others, involved.
The University of Maryland’s Smith School of Business in Shanghai and their China EMBA program have really made a difference in the lives of thousands of children living in the countryside of China.
Where will the funds you raised in Shanghai go and how will they be used?
The funds raised in Shanghai will go toward providing libraries to the Ba Qiao School District in the ShaanXi Province. Each school will receive 500 Chinese language children’s books, and a comfortable child-safe library for the children to use.
To date, what do you think has been your biggest success?
That’s a tough question to answer. There have been so many successes to date. But if I were to pick on success, it would be the creation of our School District Program. This program makes the kind of impact that we all like to see. True impact is hard to make, and I’m confident that providing every countryside elementary school in a single school districts improves the level of education that each and every child receives.
What are the next big plans for the Library Project? How do you see the project growing? How can people in China and abroad help you and support you?
The Library Project has a very clear plan for our future. We will have over 80 libraries provided to countryside elementary schools by the end of 2008. We’ll have over 200 by the end of 2009. We’ll continue that aggressive growth plan until every elementary school in China has children’s books for every child to read.
We have a ton of volunteer opportunities, both in China and abroad. The best place to begin is to check out our website at The Library Project.
All donations are greatly appreciated. Small and large donations really do make a difference. Each book that we provide to schools only cost $1 USD, or 8 Yuan. Adopting a school costs only $1,000 USD. Both of these really do make a huge impact on the lives of literally thousands of children.
The Library Project is the easiest charity on the planet to support: They have a clear purpose, a verifiable track-record, a vision for the future and they ask so little with which they accomplish so much.
Make some space on your blog or website and show that you care by placing a visual link to our friends by going here: LIBRARY PROJECT
Their mission is clear, their dedication extraordinary and their cause a most important one. To support the Library Project is one of the most cost-effective ways you will ever have to make a real difference in a lot of young lives….
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A few months ago, Yanzhi and I met Thomas Stader, the man who created The Library Project. His project donates books and libraries to underprivileged schools and orphanages in the developing world. Stader created this project because he believes education is the key motivator to breaking the cycle of poverty that exists in the developing world. For him, education is change. The Library Project accomplishes its work by getting the local community involved through book drives and awareness raising, establishing bi-lingual libraries, and partnering with local orphanages and schools.
I recently received a note from Thomas that he has built a new library, and I’d like to share what he sent to us.
“Everyone at The Library Project are very excited to announce that we have provided our first library to a countryside elementary school in China.
“There are over 500 students, grades 1-6 that attend the Xin Xing Elementary School. One third of the students that attend Xin Xing Elementary School are worker children. Worker people are people that do manual labor in China. Their jobs can be anything from building highways to building apartment blocks. They tend to be migratory, going where the work is, and once the work is finished they pick their family up and go again where the work is. Because the area around the Xin Xing Elementary School was declared a Special Development Zone by the Central Government, there has been an influx of Worker Families and their children. As you can imagine, this puts an added strain on the school budget that the administration must balance at the Xin Xing Elementary School.
“Even with this added strain, the Xin Xing Elementary School has an incredible school administration with the Vice Principle named Mr. Zhong being a key player. We met Mr. Zhong one day during the Summer Break when we showed up unannounced and he welcomed us at the gate. He was alone, cleaning the school in preparation for the approaching Fall Semester.
“During our Pre Assessment we found the school library located in a dirty room on the fourth floor of the school. Even though it was dirty, the books were all very well kept, in new book shelves the Central Government had just provided. Their collection of books numbered 3,000. This sounds like a very impressive number, but the books they had in the library were almost completely inappropriate for the children attending the elementary school. Most books were written for High School or University students, or were published in the 1970s and were showing their age. There were no more than 50 children’s books for grades 1-3. The library room also lacked any comfortable furniture for the children sit on.
“On September 25, 2007, The Library Project provided 500 children’s books for grades 1-3, and also a child safe reading area with comfortable and colorful furniture for the children to be able to sit down and read a book. We also provided a full set of children’s encyclopedias for the older learners. After the furniture and books were setup, we held a party to celebrate the children’s new library. Twenty “star” students were chosen to participate in arts, crafts and games. Everyone had a great time.
“Most importantly, the administration really saw how much the children enjoyed their new library. The Xin Xing Elementary School administration made a plan to make sure every class has an opportunity to use the library once a week.
“Without a doubt The Library Project has improved the level of education that the school provides to its students.”
If you have any questions, please contact Thomas Stader at: 
One of the most useful pieces of advice I ever received from a professor was during my sophomore year, in a class called Abstract Algebra. The math was so abstract, in fact, that it is still hard for me to imagine how I made it through that class in one piece. This Professor, however, was able to inspire me, no matter how difficult the assignment, to continue solving problems deep into the night. And his main advice was always this: “Mathematicians spend most of their time being wrong.” And what he meant was that anyone involved in taking risks–mathematicians trying to solve mathematical problems, writers crafting stories, and anyone trying to make their dreams come true–is going to spend much of their time banging their head against a wall, struggling with problems that seem beyond one’s ability to handle. And what I find I need, as I bang my own head against writing this blog, are stories and thoughts from people who have the courage to take risks and dream.
Meet Randy Pausch. I’m not sure exactly how he found his way into my electronic stumbling, but once Yanzhi and I found him, we were hooked. I watched diligently for the first two minutes, but when he said, “The inspiration and permission to dream is huge,” I knew I had found something real. As I watched his story, I knew that his message was something that needed to be on this blog.
Though there were many different and valuable parts to his lesson a lot of different parts to his message, a few pieces really stood out for me. In particular, Professor Pausch struck a cord when he spoke about walls. In China, I find so often that my students, my colleagues, and everyone here eventually comes up against the Great Walls of China. They are walls of silence, walls of insecurity and distrust, or walls of insurmountable difficulty, but they exist for each of us, in real, personal ways. I have watched Coffee, Ms. Yue, Yanzhi, our interns, and myself struggle against these different walls, and each day I am impressed with the courage of other people to stand against walls so much deeper, higher, and more entrenched than my own. Despite all this, standing against walls is only standing, and for me, we need ways around the wall–this is where Randy Pausch came in.
What I found in Professor Pausch’s lecture is not a way around the wall: I do think that only individuals can walk around or break through their own walls, though they can certainly receive help from others. And that offer to help is what people need most. What Professor Pausch’s lecture offers is an invitation to transform these walls into bridges. As he says, “The brick walls are not there to keep us out. The brick walls are there to stop the people who don’t it badly enough.” I hope that each of our readers can watch these videos and find in his story, like I did, an imaginative and lively story about finding your dreams and making them come true.
We’ll continue to post these lectures as a feature on our blog. Professor, thank you for telling stories about people striving and achieving their dreams.
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We extend a warm welcome to the our friends from Yo2.cn! We hope to enjoy a long relationship with Charles, the founder, and the 11,000 (and growing!!) Wordpress blogs he supports on the first free WP platform in China.
One of our dreams for the coming year is to host a Wordpress Camp in Guangzhou or Hong Kong to educate users about the infinite possibilities of blogging using WP.
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