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Educating
children for several years
will benefit them for decades, and
will benefit a country for centuries.

Programs


Providing Reading Materials
Reading and writing are basic skills in school, and later, in work. To improve their quality of life, China's rural population must learn to read and write. However, books and other reading material are hardly available in most rural areas. Rural schools are poorly equipped. Many rural students do not have basic textbooks, not to mention other books for supplementary reading. Rural teachers lack teaching and reference materials. Rural residents have little access to information that could help them increase their harvest, like agricultural methods of cultivation and processing; they also lack knowledge about hygiene that will improve the quality of their daily life and health. In view of this situation, ESS started two projects in the late 1980s to provide library books to rural schools and public libraries in China.
	ARSL - US$600 per rural school library
	ARPL - US$6,000 per rural public library

Adopt a Rural School Library (ARSL)

With generous contribution from many sponsors, the number of ARSLs has grown from four in 1989 to 4,400 in 2006. They are now spread across all provinces in China, with the largest concentration in the poor rural areas in the southwest, northwest, central and northern regions. From the feedback information received from the ARSL schools, we see how much the books have meant to the students and teachers in the schools, as well as the local communities. As many of the books previously provided have become worn or damaged over the years, ESS is starting a second round of sponsorship for ARSL schools that have effectively used the library books.

How to Set Up

ESS provincial representatives work with local institutions and communities to identify schools that meet ESS selection criteria, help the schools through the process of application and signing agreements, guide them in the selection and purchase of suitable locally published books, and ensure the proper distribution of ESS allocated funds.

ARSL schools stamp the sponsor's name on each book, catalog the books and put them on library shelves which are regularly open to students, teachers and local residents.

After a year's operation, the ARSL schools provide feedback information via ESS to the sponsor, including receipts and lists of books purchased, thank you letters, book reports and photographs of the opening and use of the library.

A contribution of US$600 supports one ARSL. 85% of contributions are used for the purchase of books, 5% for essay contests and teachers training conferences, and 10% for administrative expenses in the US and China.

Distribution of ARSL Schools, 1989-2008 (Spring)

Districts	Province/Municipality	Of which, sponsored by donors in:				Total Schools
		U.S.A.	Taiwan	Hong Kong	Mainland China

South-West	Guizhou	47	56	35		138
	Yunnan	173	60	71	4	308
	Guangxi	89	74	98		261
	Sichuan	181	31	83		295
	Chongqing	9	15	14		38
	Xizhang	26	10	4		40

North-West	Gansu	250	94	76		420
	Qinghai	125	50	60		235
	Ningxia	114	25	58		197
	Inner Mongolia	212	47	160		419
	Xinjiang	164	51	51	2	268

North-East	Jilin	61	4	36		101
	Liaoning	33	4	20		57
	Heilongjiang	25	2	18		45

Middle-China	Hunan	101	50	66		217
	Jiangxi	106	29	57		192
	Anhui	205	45	123	6	379
	Hubei	128	23	57		208

North-China	Hebei	40	43	38		121
	Shanxi	46	38	27		111
	Shaanxi	70	20	100		190
	Henan	163	86	93		342
	Beijing	7	7	22	2	38

South & East	Shandong	38	43	9		90
	Jiangsu	17	33	4		54
	Zhejiang	46	3	2		51
	Fujian	1	8			9
	Guangdong	39	8	24		71
	Hainan	23	4	38		65

Taiwan Area	Taiwan		6			6

Total Schools	(2008)	2,539	969	1,444	14	4,966