January 24, 2013

Brady Corporation completes 55 library donations

Books of all kind play a critical role in a child’s development. Unfortunately, very few books beyond basic textbooks are found in many rural elementary schools in China. Many of these children grow up without access to the educational tools and resources many of us take for granted. The Library Project, an American charity based in Xi’an, China, and Brady Corporation are breaking this cycle one book at a time.

Brady Corporation has committed $150,000 USD to provide ninety libraries to elementary schools throughout China from 2010 to 2013.

“Library donation has been perfect matching to our Hope School projects. It’s been a huge pleasure for us partnering with The Library Project and we are looking forward to future projects. We’ll spare no efforts to work together with The Library Project and other organizations to support elementary education in those under-developed regions,” said Eddie Wang, Brady’s North Asia Finance Director and China Chief Operation Officer and member of Brady China Foundation Steering Committee.

“We are extremely thankful for the support from Brady Corporation,” said Tom Stader, Executive Director and Founder of The Library Project. “Thousands of children attending elementary schools are going to have access to improved educational infrastructure in the form of a safe and friendly reading environment and quality Chinese language children’s books for them to read.”

RESULTS
The results speak for themselves. From 2010 to 2012, Brady donated 55 libraries located in Anhui, Fujian, Guangdong, Hebei, Shaanxi, and Sichuan provinces of China. Over 11,000 students today attend schools that have beautiful, colorful, and fun books that will inspire and spark their imaginations for years to come.

 
Libraries
Students
Books
 2010
1
135
500
 2011
2
2,876
12,400
 2012
26
8,296
14,500
 
55
11,307
27,400

Brady employees were a huge reason for the successful donation of their 55 library donations. Traveling sometime thousands of kilometers to volunteer, employees helped put together tables, chairs and shelving, organized books and worked with the students to introduce them to their new library.

“Donor involvement is a core value at The Library Project. Getting volunteers involved during the set-up and kick-off of a library donation has a long lasting impact with the students, local community and administration at these small rural schools,” says Maggie Zhi, The Library Project’s China Country Director.

ABOUT THE LIBRARIES

Each elementary school received a wide range of high quality children’s books from educational ones on history and science to entertaining books such as comics, fairy tales, and short stories. The students also received reference books as well as a full set of children’s encyclopedias for older students and pinyin language books for the younger children just beginning to learn to read. The Library Project also provided colorful child-safe tables and chairs, posters, and a world globe to each library.

In addition to receiving new books and furniture, every elementary school took part in The Library Project’s Librarian Training Program. Since many elementary schools have never had a single book in their “library”, each new librarian learns the logistics of library management. From day one this program gets the librarians up to speed on how to run a successful library.

“Libraries put children in the driver’s seat of their education,” says Tom Stader, Executive Director and Founder of the Library Project. “Library books are different from textbooks. Kids may be inspired by the teachers in lessons and then explore their interests further in a library. With a library their imagination gets involved.”

Education is change, and The Library Project with the generous support of NetworkHR are creating change in the simplest way possible, by giving children the resources to learn and grow. If you are interested in getting involved, please visit The Library Project’s website at www.library-project.org or contact Tom Stader at tom@library-project.org. Our website contains a wealth of information about each of the libraries we have donated to date as well as prospects for future libraries.

 


 

About Brady Corporation
Brady Corporation is an international manufacturer and marketer of complete solutions that identify and protect premises, products, and people. Its products help customers increase safety, security, productivity and performance and include high-performance labels and signs, safety devices, printing systems and software, and precision die-cut materials. Founded in 1914, the company has millions of customers in electronics, telecommunications, manufacturing, electrical, construction, education, medical and a variety of other industries. Brady is headquartered in Milwaukee and employs more than 6,500 people at operations in the Americas, Europe and Asia-Pacific.

About The Library Project
The Library Project is a non-profit charity organization that donates books and libraries to the under-financed schools in the developing world. They believe that education is change. Up to now, The Library Project has accumulatively created more than 800 libraries for elementary schools in the remote areas in China. The Library Project is a charity partner of China Population Welfare Foundation – a non-profit charity organization approved by the Ministry of Civil Affairs Registry.