fictionpage Chapter 3326 Book Selection Meeting
Chapter 3326 Book Selection Meeting
Chapter 3326 Book Selection Meeting
Sunday afternoon, in the children's reading room of the district library.
Sunlight streamed in through the tall floor-to-ceiling windows, casting dappled shadows on the floor. The reading room was already set up, with several long tables pushed together and covered with light blue tablecloths, and about a dozen small chairs placed around them.
Xiao Bai and his group arrived ahead of time. Tan Jin'er and Zhang Tan were talking quietly to each other, and there was a stack of documents on the table.
Today I'm meeting with the person in charge of the Starlight Reading Project to discuss donation matters. They will bring some sample books for the children to choose from.
"Xiaobai, what kind of books do you think we should choose to donate?" Xi'er asked.
Xiao Bai thought for a moment and said, "It should be something that allows them to learn something, and it should also make them happy."
Liuliu chimed in, "I think comic books will definitely be popular! Paw Patrol is a good example!"
She kept her love for animation a closely guarded secret, but it would occasionally slip up. Well, her interests were on par with Xiao Weiwei's.
Chengcheng said, "Storybooks are also very important; stories can give people courage and hope."
……
Just then, the door to the reading room was pushed open. A woman in her thirties, wearing glasses and with a neat short haircut, walked in, followed by a young assistant carrying two large cardboard boxes.
"Hello, I'm Lin Jing, the person in charge of the 'Starlight Reading Project'," the woman introduced herself with a smile.
"This is my colleague, Xiao Zhou."
Tan Jin'er stepped forward: "Hello, Teacher Lin, I'm Tan Jin'er. We spoke on the phone before. This is Zhang Tan, and these are Xiaobai and Liuliu..."
Lin Jing clearly knew about Tan Jin'er and was aware of the Little Red Horse Charity Foundation. The girl in front of her, who had a youthful appearance, was actually in charge of a huge charity foundation and wielded considerable power.
Tan Jin'er's introduction of Zhang Tan surprised her. She hadn't expected Zhang Tan to be there, after all... such a "trivial matter" shouldn't be handled by President Zhang personally.
She warmly extended her hand and shook hands with Zhang Tan: "Hello, Mr. Zhang, I'm a fan of Little Red Horse."
Little Red Horse isn't just a late-night school; it also has animation, movies, television shows, and more.
Zhang Tan smiled and said, "It's a pleasure to meet you. I'll be troubling you this time."
Lin Jing smiled and said, "We should be thanking you for your support."
She greeted Xiaobai and the others. She had done her homework before coming and knew quite a bit about them. For example, Xiaobai was a director who had won international awards, and Xier was a pop diva in the music industry.
Xiaobai said, "Teacher Lin, we want to buy books for the children in the mountainous areas, but we don't know how to choose them."
Lin Jing gestured to her assistant to open the cardboard box: "So we brought it today."
The two cardboard boxes were neatly stacked with all sorts of books, including brand-new picture books, bridge books with pinyin, popular science books, and several literary classics suitable for older children.
Lin Jing picked up the top picture book, whose cover was titled "Stars Beyond the Mountains," and featured a child looking up at the starry sky from a windowsill.
"This book was created by a teacher in a mountainous area based on his real experiences. It tells the story of a child who imagines the world outside the mountains through reading."
She turned the pages; the illustrations inside were simple yet powerful.
Everyone crowded around, eager to watch.
As Lin Jing flipped through the books, she continued to explain: "We have several principles for selecting books. First, the content must be positive and uplifting, bringing hope to children. Second, it must be suitable for the reading abilities of different age groups. Third, we must consider the local conditions. For example, in some places where the power supply is unstable, we choose more paper books and fewer books that require electronic devices."
Everyone nodded in agreement.
Assistant Xiao Zhou took out several slightly worn but well-preserved books from another box and introduced them, saying, "These are books that we collected from the established book corner, and they are the children's favorite books to look through."
The corners of these books are worn rounded, the inner pages have childish pencil markings, and some pages still have dried wildflowers or leaves as bookmarks.
Everyone quickly gathered around.
Xiao Weiwei picked up a copy of "The Insect World" and opened it to see a line of crooked words written in pencil on the title page: This book taught me why fireflies glow—Li Xiaoming, Grade 3, Johor Bahru Elementary School.
Lin Jing smiled and said, "In each book corner, we ask the children to leave their mark on the books. It can be their name, a sentence, or a drawing. In this way, the books come to life and become a medium for communication among the children. Such books are more valuable than brand new ones."
"Can we write something on the books we send?" Xi'er asked expectantly.
Lin Jing affirmed, "Of course, we encourage such connections between donors and recipients. A book is not just about paper and words, but also about the transmission of sentiments."
On the long table in the reading room, the books are arranged in categories: stories, science, art, study guides, etc. Each category is further subdivided according to the appropriate reading age.
Liuliu and Xiaobai are in charge of selecting storybooks and comics.
Liu Liu insisted on adding a set of "Paw Patrol" picture books, and had her own reasons: "This is sure to be popular! It teaches a lot of safety knowledge!"
Xiao Bai chose a set of picture books of traditional Chinese myths and said, "My uncle often tells me these stories, and children in mountainous areas should also know our own myths."
Bai Jianping would tell Xiaobai mythological stories, while Malanhua liked to tell Xiaobai ghost stories. But Xiaobai was never afraid of ghosts and instead looked forward to the night owl Hu Zi coming to find her.
Chengcheng and Xier carefully selected popular science books.
Chengcheng chose a set of "Secrets of Nature" series, while Xier preferred a set of illustrated "Fun Science Experiments".
Xiaomi and Dudu are in charge of learning and tutoring books.
Instead of choosing heavy exercise books, they opted for several sets of fun and educational math game books and engaging Chinese language reading materials.
Robin and Vivi lingered in front of art books.
Robin took a liking to a set of simple drawing tutorials, while Xiao Weiwei chose several books on crafts and origami.
During the book selection process, Lin Jing and her assistant Xiao Zhou offered suggestions from time to time.
By 4 p.m., the preliminary book list was finally finalized, totaling 300 books, covering all age groups from preschool to junior high school, taking into account knowledge, fun and practicality.
Lin Jing took out a folder and said, "This contains the basic information of the five mountain schools we have established contact with, located in three provinces. Each school has different student numbers, age composition, and existing library resources."
She turned to the first page, which showed a picture of a primary school: simple brick houses, a bumpy playground, but the classroom walls were painted sky blue, and several pots of wildflowers were growing well on the windowsill.
"This is Yunling Township Central Primary School, with 87 students from first to sixth grade. The school has only one small library, and most of the books were donated ten years ago and are already dilapidated."
Turning the page, there's a photo of an even smaller teaching location: just two classrooms, with about a dozen children standing in front of the door, all smiles.
"This is the Gaoshan Village teaching point, with a total of 23 children of mixed ages. There is no library here, so the teachers use their own books for the children to read in turn."
The children looked at the photos with serious expressions.
Xiao Bai said firmly, "We will donate books to them so that they all have books to read."
Lin Jing nodded: "Our suggestion is to allocate books according to the specific circumstances of each school. For example, for the Gaoshan Village teaching point, we will send more picture books and books for young children; for the Yunling Township Central Primary School, we will cover all age groups."
"When will it be delivered?" Dudu asked the question that everyone was most concerned about.
Xiao Zhou took out his phone to check the calendar and said, "It takes about a week for the logistics to reach these places. We plan to ship them all out next weekend, so the children will receive the books in about two weeks."
Xiao Bai pressed on, "There's another question: how do we know they received the book? How do we know if they like it?"
Lin Jing was prepared. She opened her tablet, brought up a photo album, and introduced it as, "This is feedback from our previous donation activities."
A series of photos appeared on the screen: children excitedly choosing new books, a little girl smiling with her eyes crinkling into crescents as she held a book, several boys huddled together reading the same comic book, and a teacher explaining the story in the book at the blackboard...
“After each batch of books arrives, the local teachers will send us photos and videos. If conditions permit, we will also organize simple reading activities and record the children’s feelings.”
Lin Jing swiped to another set of photos, which showed some children holding up their drawings or written reflections.
Chengcheng stared intently at a photograph: a little girl with pigtails holding up a picture of a small house under a starry sky, with the words "Thank you to the older brother and sister who gave me the book. When I grow up, I want to go to the city to see it."
"She draws really well," Chengcheng said.
"Can we receive paintings like these too?" Xi'er asked expectantly.
Lin Jing said confidently, "Of course, if you'd like, we can arrange a special book launch."
"A book signing event?" Everyone's curiosity was piqued.
Xiao Zhou explained, "It's about connecting with children in mountainous areas via video link. Although you can't actually meet face-to-face, you can see each other and hear each other's voices."
This suggestion excited everyone.
……
As the book selection event drew to a close, Lin Jing took out several blank notebooks and said, "These are specially prepared reading exchange notebooks, which will be sent to each school along with the books. The children can write reading notes, draw illustrations, and ask questions in them. The notebooks will circulate among different schools and eventually come to us, where we will then hand them over to you."
Xiao Bai took a notebook with a starry sky pattern on the cover and the title page was blank, waiting for the first word to appear.
“Can we write something on the first page?” she asked.
Lin Jing smiled and said, "Of course, you are the star messengers of this batch of books, so you should be the first to leave a message."
Everyone gathered together, discussing what to write.
Ultimately, Xiao Mi was chosen as the representative because she had the most beautiful handwriting. She neatly wrote on the title page:
Dear friend:
These books come from us at Little Red Horse Academy.
May the stories in this book bring you joy.
May the knowledge in this book give you strength.
May every book
They are all like the light of fireflies.
Light up your sky and every night.
We are: Xiaobai, Xier, Liuliu, Dudu, Xiaomi, Chengcheng, Robin, Xiaoweiwei... and all of Little Red Horse's friends.
Looking forward to sharing more stories with you.
After writing, everyone took turns signing their names.