Project Page

Project Name Google Rural Library Project
Objective To build a foundation for sustainable reading in rural areas by collecting old books and building libraries

• Project Information

  University	Team	Location
  Hunan Institute of Humanities Science and Technology	6 students	Sichuan Province

• Challenge

  One of the biggest barriers to education faced by rural farmers today is the exorbitant cost of books. While many Western countries adopt the method of recycling used books and transferring them to needed areas, this is not a common practice in rural China, resulting in a huge waste of valuable resources.

• Solution

  To achieve sustainable recycling of books, and to ensure that unwanted books are distributed to areas that truly need them, our team plans to build new libraries and remodel old ones in rural Sichuan through creating a system of book donation, collection, and long-term fundraising. We will specifically target books that can aid farmers in their daily lives, such as literature on agricultural techniques, science and technology. To ensure sustainability, we will set up a Google advisory group that will work with local villages to ensure long-term maintenance and growth of the libraries. We cannot achieve all of this alone, therefore we will partner with regional media and educational organizations, local businesses and various other institutions to make reading affordable and possible for children in rural areas.