Wu Jingxun shows a donated picture book in his "neighborhood library" in Foshan. [Photo by Yang Yang/China Daily]

Poverty alleviation

For decades, Foshan has been helping poor areas with financial and cultural support. One of the fruits of this labor is the first "neighborhood library" in Muli, Sichuan's Liangshan, which Huang recently visited. Foshan Library has donated 5,000 books to the branch.

Wu and his team went to the Muli library to host the first picture book reading event to teach both parents and children how to read. Twenty villagers attended.

At their Friends Camp N-Library in downtown Foshan, there are mainly books aimed at students from grade one to grade eight, including picture books from home and abroad, and science books about oceans and quantum mechanics. The library is mainly for students in poor areas, such as those in Muli.

"We hope the books that we donated to Muli and other poor places can help the locals in their poverty-alleviation efforts," Huang says.

Wu says he believes that even when children become delivery people or migrant workers when they grow up, if they keep reading, books will help them to live a better life.