Here is a picture of a panda seeing a policeman after the earthquake.

Though the other 86 pandas in Wolong had no casualty,the origin place of the pand’s  food,bamboo,was affected by the earthquake.

The wild giant pandas are still at risk.Concern about the lovely ancient animal,giant panda.

中文

卧龙国家自然保护区坐落在四川省汶川县。卧龙自然保护区饲养着150只濒临灭绝的大熊猫。在512大地震中，3只熊猫失踪，5个工作人员遇难，14座建筑都受到了破坏。

这是一张震后大熊猫看到警察的照片。

虽然其他86只熊猫都没有受到波及，但原先熊猫的食物—竹子的来源地却受到了地震的破坏。

野生大熊的生存依然受到威胁，让我们一起关注这些可爱的远古动物—大熊猫吧！

Translated by Mengying Hao

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 past three months have far exceeded the The Library Project’s goals and expectations. There is so much to share – from our new home in Xi’an, China to an incredible list of schools benefiting from our support – so let’s get started.

“In September, The Library Project donated our first library to a Chinese countryside elementary school. The Xin Xing Elementary School is located an hour outside of Xi’an, in the ShaanXi Province. Over 500 students in grades 1-6 attend the Xin Xing Elementary School. During our pre assessment we discovered the school library’s uninviting environment and general lack of age appropriate books. Most of the books in the existing library were written for high school or university students with a total of less than 50 children’s books for grades 1-3.

“The Library Project provided 500 children’s books for grades 1-3 and a child-safe reading area with comfortable and colorful furniture. We provided a wide range of children’s books including: history, science, short stories, fairy tales, “pinyin” books for very young readers, children’s dictionaries, children’s reference books, and an assortment of comic books. We also provided a full set of children’s encyclopedias for older students. Every book was in full color and of the highest quality. The Library Project provided colorful child-safe tables and chairs, posters and a globe to populate the previously empty room. Once the library was completed, we held a party to celebrate our accomplishments with the children. Twenty “star” students were chosen to participate in arts, crafts and games. One of our activities had the children draw their “dream library”. We learned that most children want a library located outside consisting of colorful books which float in the air. (We’re working on that concept for a future library.)

“Without a doubt The Library Project has improved the level of education that the Xin Xing Elementary School provides to its students.

“We didn’t stop there. In October The Library Project completed a phenomenal feat of donating three libraries in three days. The libraries are located at three different elementary schools in the countryside of Xi’an: the Si Qing Elementary School, Bai Lu Yuan Elementary School and Mi Cun Elementary School. Furthermore, all the items donated were upgraded from our previous library. We provided higher quality books, better seating, sturdy wooden tables and bookshelves custom made at a local factory, and we even found cacti and plants to put on the tables and shelving.

“Providing three libraries in three days pushed us both mentally and physically. We had a team of over 20 volunteers helping with the delivery of the materials, setting up furniture, sorting books, and playing games with the kids in their new library. Through our experiences we learned this one simple fact: that when The Library Project arrives in a countryside school, the students go absolutely crazy. The madness usually begins when we pull up in our large truck and the children come running out of their classrooms.

“For our next goal, I need your help. In the past we have benefited one school at a time and now we are looking to help an entire school district. We want to make a clear IMPACT on the level of education an entire school district will be able to offer its students. Our first school district we would like to help will be the Ba Qiao School District (the same school district where our last three elementary schools were located).

“The Ba Qiao School District is an hour outside of the Xi’an city center. This area was hit very hard by the closure of state run factories over the past twenty years. Because of the closures and the lack of work, the average annual income is less than 2,000 RMB ($266), and there is very little hope that things will change for the better in the future. To learn more about the Ba Qiao School District, please click here.

“If you are interested in Adopting a Library or adopting a group of schools through our Adopting a School District programs, please click here for more information. You can also send me an email at [*tom@library-project.org* ] to ask any questions about the library adoption process.

“Furthermore, our website has been updated and improved to help both large and small donors have a better idea of exactly how their financial contributions are put to work. We also added an Adopt a Library page for those who would like to provide an entire elementary school with a library. The page also contains information on the Ba Qiao School District. Everyone who donates to the Adopt a School or Adopt a School District programs will receive a Library Completion Report for the specific library that you supported, along with a beautiful hardcover book celebrating our past libraries and the communities and schools we have worked in.

“I am very happy to announce two new additions to The Library Project’s team. Jenny Wang is our first full time employee in China. Jenny is from Hunan Province and has lived in Xi’an for the past ten years. A short list of some of her accomplishments these past few months have been getting us a 20 – 65% discount on children’s books at the country’s largest chain of bookstores, managing our growing list of partners in China, spearheading the completion of our first four libraries in Chinese countryside elementary schools, and doing non-stop assessments of schools and orphanages. Welcome aboard Jenny!

“I am also very happy to announce that Kevin Kruse has joined our Board of Directors. Kevin Kruse joined in August and has been an incredible addition to the team. Kevin has been instrumental in helping create a solid business foundation for The Library Project. He was also our first donor to support our Adopt a School District program. To learn more about Kevin, please check out his bio by clicking here. Welcome Kevin!

“Lastly, please check out some of our new products for the holiday season. 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 past library we have donated. The gift cards are a perfect holiday gift idea. To check out our new online store, please click here.

“Your help is greatly appreciated. Click here to make a donation and help give the gift of education and opportunity to a child in Asia. As a result of your donation you will receive photos and a Library Completion Report on the library you helped make a reality. Your donation truly does make a difference.

“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,
Thomas Stader
The Library Project
Founder

We’ve created an idea called link it forward. Similar to the internet memes and the Thinking Blog tag that recently moved through a number of English-language blogs about China, our idea will travel rapidly through pro-China blogs. In addition, this idea will help to create links–as many as four thousand–to your site through a trickle-down method.

There are five simple steps:

1. Take this list of 8 blogs and put them in a post on your blog. The first three blogs, Onemanbandwidth, The China Dreamblogue, and Sinotrading, remain on the list.
2. At the top of the moveable list, put a link to your blog.
3. Remove the link from the bottom of blog.
4. Send your updated list to at least five other people.
5. If you want, create a new moveable list of five blogs you think deserve some links. Be kind and include the permanent list as well.

Perma-List:

• Onemanbandwidth
• The China Dreamblogue
• Sinotrading

The Moveable list:

• The Hao Hao Report
• East South North West
• The Cal Poly MBA Trip
• China Law Blog
• The Opposite End of China

The numbers work out well for you. You will have approximately five rounds on the list. On the first round, you’ll get five links. On the second, you’ll get 25 (each of the five people you sent the list to will get five more people to put your link on their site). The third round nets you 125, the fourth 525, and the fifth 2,625. Your grand total (should everyone follow Link it Forward) will be 3,305 links. And if you get linked to again by another blog, you can start the process all over again to earn another 3,000 links.

To monetize your blog or site please click on the links found on the front page of this blog.

China Dreamblogue的其中一个目标是在因特网上创建一个强大的，支持中国的互联网。实现这个目标，我们需要你的帮助。在我们建造我们中国的友好互联网的同时，我们将会帮助那些支持我们的人，把他们的博客推到网络排名的最前列。这个过程既简单又有效。

我们已经有一个构想，称为“链接在一起”（Link it Forward），与“网络媒母”（internet memes）相类似。“Link it Forward”（ 链接在一起）会以很快的速度在支持中国的博客上移动。另外，这个构想可以使你的网站的链接数量增加几千个以上。

以下是六个简单的步骤：

1. 按照以下的说明列两组博客的目录然后放到您的博客上。第一组名单是三个固定的博客：Onemanbandwidth, The China Dreamblogue, 和Sinotrading。这三个博客的连接必须永远的保留和不可改变。
2. 在第二组上，把您自己的博客连接放在目录的第一位上。
3. 把所有在第二组目录上的连接排名依次向下移动一位。即排第一的移到第二位，排第二的移到第三位等等（第五位的移到第一位）。
4. 这就是说排第五的应该要完成一个循坏回到第五的位置上。
5. 将你的更新了的列表发给至少5个其他博客。您发的越多，您就能获得更多的链接。如果您有一百个人，那就快点去做吧。
6. 如果您想的话，还可以另外创建一个您认为有价值的列表。请也同样包括那个不变名单（即onemanbandwidth, china dreamblogue 和 sinotrading）

请记住，不要改动或者改变第一组名单和不要在第二组名单上加上第六个链接。同样，通过第一组名单所得到的广告收益将用作慈善用途。而从第二组“link it forward”上所得的收益将有您自己支配。我们会为您列举一些能够推算您自己网站价值的地方。

第一组（长期不变得目录）：

Onemanbandwidth

The China Dreamblogue

Sinotrading

第二组（可更新的目录）：

您的博客

您朋友的博客

如果理想的话，您大约会有比从前翻5倍的链接量。

第一个循环，您会得到5个链接。

第二个循环您会得到25个链接（跟您建立链接的那5个人每人会给您带来5个新的链接）

第三个循环您会有125个链接，第四个有625，第五个有3，125个。

如果每个人都按照Link it Forward的方法，您最后会得到3，905个链接。如果您同时又跟其他博客建立同种方法的链接，您将会得到另外3，000多个的链接。有了这上千个的 连接，您就能从Google Adwords（Google搜索引擎营销）那里得到相应的收益了。现在就请按本页底部的Google Adwords按钮来看一下您的网站的价值吧。

这是为了兴趣；这是为了提高中国博客在西方搜索引擎的排名；这更是为了中国的慈善事业出一分力（因为限定组中的3个博客将会把全部广告收益捐献给中国的慈善机构）；同样也能增加中国博客在互联网上的知名度。

让我们一起link it forward(链接在一起)吧！