Rural Public Library (RPL)

 

Project Objectives and Description

Funding

How to setup an RPL

Background and Development of the RPL Project

Location of RPLs

Problems and Challenges

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Project Objectives and Description

The Rural Public Library (RPL) project works with local governments to set up libraries at the township level. It aims to provide a "window of knowledge" for poor rural areas where books and other informational material are scarce or not available. The RPLs are intended to serve local students as well as peasants and other residents. The long-term objective is to help improve the quality of education and raise productivity.

RPLs have 5,000 to 15,000 volumes of books and different periodicals. Its responsibilities include:

* work together with local schools to facilitate book circulation;

* assist in locally-run cultural events and agricultural training activities by providing relevant material and information; and

* help set up village-level libraries and provide or share books and resources.

ESS supports the purchase of books for each RPL in the first five years of its operation, after which the local government guarantees continuation of funding for the operating costs.

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Funding

Setting up a RPL requires a total contribution of US$6,000 for five years. This amount may be remitted in full or by installments (initially US$2,000 and subsequently US$1,000 annually for four years). 95% of contributions are used to purchase books, and 5% for supportive expenses in

Incentive book funds (US$400 per year since 2009) are provided to RPLs that function effectively.

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How to Set Up an RPL

* The RPL project team based in New York reviews proposals initiated by local governments in poor rural areas.

* Project agreements are signed with the local government and cultural agencies responsible for library management.

* The local government is responsible for assigning a full-time qualified library manager for the RPL, and for the provision and maintenance of library premises and facilities.

* ESS representatives in Guangxi and Guizhou assist in identifying and reviewing the conditions of proposed sites for the RPLs, and also in the handling of funds and purchase of library books.

* After the initial five years, the local government is responsible for funding the purchase of library books.

* RPL sponsors receive feedback information, including receipts, from ESS.

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Background and Development of the RPL Project

Reading and writing are basic skills in life. To improve the quality of life in the rural areas in China over the longer term, the rural population must have books to read. However, in the 1980s, ESS found that in most rural areas, books and other reading materials were hardly available. In many schools students did not have books for supplementary reading, and teachers lacked teaching and reference materials. People had little access to information such as methods of cultivation and processing that could help them increase their income. They also lacked knowledge about hygiene that would improve their health and the quality of their daily lives.

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 -- Rural School Library (RSL) and Rural Public Library (RPL). Unlike the RSL project which is school-based, the RPL project works together with the township government where the RPL is located.

Limited by financial resources and manpower, the RPL project has focused on only two provinces in the southwest -- Guizhou and Guangxi. Since 1988, forty-six RPLs have been set up in these two Provinces (25 in Guizhou and 21 in Guangxi).

Click to see the location of the RPLs.

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Problems and Challenges

Some RPLs have not been operating satisfactorily owing to inadequate support from local authorities. The problems include: not allocating sufficient funds for the purchase of books, not assigning adequate staff for keeping the library open to the public, closing the library for considerable periods of time, and using library premises for other purposes. In some cases, library books were given away to local schools and the RPLs disappeared.

The root of these problems lies in the lack of legislations governing township level libraries, and the RPLs remain outside the regular government budgetary system. How well a RPL operates depends entirely on the priorities of the local leadership. Priorities shift as leadership changed. Hence the rules and regulations set up under the original project agreements are not observed.

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