The Library Project is a non-profit organization

Non-profit organization

Nonprofit organization is neither a legal nor technical definition but generally refers to an organization that uses surplus revenues to achieve its goals, rather than distributing them as profit or dividends...

 that donates book

Book

A book is a set or collection of written, printed, illustrated, or blank sheets, made of hot lava, paper, parchment, or other materials, usually fastened together to hinge at one side. A single sheet within a book is called a leaf or leaflet, and each side of a leaf is called a page...

s and libraries

Library

In a traditional sense, a library is a large collection of books, and can refer to the place in which the collection is housed. Today, the term can refer to any collection, including digital sources, resources, and services...

 to under financed school

School

A school is an institution designed for the teaching of students under the direction of teachers. Most countries have systems of formal education, which is commonly compulsory. In these systems, students progress through a series of schools...

s and orphanage

Orphanage

An orphanage is a residential institution devoted to the care of orphans – children whose parents are deceased or otherwise unable or unwilling to care for them...

s in China

China

Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...

 and Vietnam

Vietnam

Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...

. The Library Project was founded on the principle that education

Education

Education in its broadest, general sense is the means through which the aims and habits of a group of people lives on from one generation to the next. Generally, it occurs through any experience that has a formative effect on the way one thinks, feels, or acts...

 is change and the key to breaking the cycle of poverty

Cycle of poverty

In economics, the cycle of poverty is the "set of factors or events by which poverty, once started, is likely to continue unless there is outside intervention."...

 in the developing world. The Library Project gets the local community involved through book drives and awareness raising, and partnering with local charities and companies. Since 2006, The Library Project has established over 225 libraries and donated more than 150,000 local and English language

English language

English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...

 books to rural elementary school

Elementary school

An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the first stage of compulsory education known as elementary or primary education. Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, particularly those in North America, where the terms grade school and grammar...

s and orphanages throughout China and Vietnam with another 142 planned for completion in 2010.

Programs

The Library Project has three distinct programs. All books are purchased in-country via generous individual or company donations or acquired through local community based book drives.

Elementary School Program—Each elementary school receives a wide range of high quality bi-lingual children's books

Children's literature

Children's literature is for readers and listeners up to about age twelve; it is often defined in four different ways: books written by children, books written for children, books chosen by children, or books chosen for children. It is often illustrated. The term is used in senses which sometimes...

, child-safe tables and chairs, fresh paint and colorful posters.

Orphanage Program—Each small orphanage receives a wide range of high quality bi-lingual children's books, child-safe tables and chairs, fresh paint

Paint

Paint is any liquid, liquefiable, or mastic composition which after application to a substrate in a thin layer is converted to an opaque solid film. One may also consider the digital mimicry thereof...

 and colorful poster

Poster

A poster is any piece of printed paper designed to be attached to a wall or vertical surface. Typically posters include both textual and graphic elements, although a poster may be either wholly graphical or wholly text. Posters are designed to be both eye-catching and informative. Posters may be...

s as well as games and floor mats.

2008 Earthquake Program—The Library Project has provided books and libraries for elementary schools and orphanages in Sichuan and Shaanxi Provinces as they have rebuilt as a result of the devastating 2008 earthquake

Earthquake

An earthquake is the result of a sudden release of energy in the Earth's crust that creates seismic waves. The seismicity, seismism or seismic activity of an area refers to the frequency, type and size of earthquakes experienced over a period of time...

.

Results

Over the past three years, The Library Project has empowered children with the gift of education by:

• Providing access to books to over 50,000 children
• Donating over 150,000 English and local language children’s books, encyclopedia
  Encyclopedia
  An encyclopedia is a type of reference work, a compendium holding a summary of information from either all branches of knowledge or a particular branch of knowledge....
  
  s and reference books
• Donating colorful child-safe tables and chairs, fresh paint, posters and a world globe
  Globe
  A globe is a three-dimensional scale model of Earth or other spheroid celestial body such as a planet, star, or moon...
  
   to each donated library
• Establishing 225 libraries in rural elementary schools and orphanages in 19 provinces throughout China
• Establishing 8 libraries in rural elementary schools and orphanages in Vietnam

Locations

The Library Project works in some of the most remote regions of China. TLP has established libraries in 19 provinces throughout China with special focus on Sichuan, Anhui and Shaaxi provinces.

Some of regions and provinces The Library Project works:

• Anhui Province: Fuyang, Hefei
• Beijing
  Beijing
  Beijing , also known as Peking , is the capital of the People's Republic of China and one of the most populous cities in the world, with a population of 19,612,368 as of 2010. The city is the country's political, cultural, and educational center, and home to the headquarters for most of China's...
  
  
• Chongqing
• Guangdong Province: Heyuan, Qingyuan
• Guizhou Province: Guiyang
• Hubei Province: Wuhan, Xiangfan
• Inner Mongolia
  Inner Mongolia
  Inner Mongolia is an autonomous region of the People's Republic of China, located in the northern region of the country. Inner Mongolia shares an international border with the countries of Mongolia and the Russian Federation...
  
   Province: Erdos, Huhhot
• Jiangsu Province: Wuxi
• Jilin Province: Changchun
• Liaoning Province: Dalian, Dandong, Shenyang
• Ningxia Province: Yinchuan
• Shaanxi Province: Xi’an , Baoji, Ankang, Yanan, Weinan, Hanzhong, Xianyang
• Shandong Province: Jinan, Linyi, Dongying
• Shanghai
• Shanxi Province: Taiyuan
• Sichuan Province: Chengdu, Guanghan, Guangyuan
• Xinjing Province: Urmuqi
• Yunnan Province: Kunming

External links

• The Library Project Website