A total of 40,000 books are needed to help students in rural areas, officials from the the Ministry of Education said yesterday, urging more people to donate books to improve children's reading environment and abilities.
Students in rural areas have poor access to reading materials, Pan Wen-chung (
Pan attributed the inadequacy of books in remote areas to a lack of resources and the fact that many libraries were destroyed in the 921 earthquake in 1999, which killed 2,321 people and injured 6,534 others.
"Donating books will certainly benefit students in remote areas who desire to read," Pan said.
In addition to books, Pan said, "they [the children] also need concern, love and support of the whole society."
Pan said donated books would be dispatched to 219 junior high schools with a total of 61,022 students in remote regions, including Nantou County, as well as Hualien and Taitung counties.
The ministry has recommended a list of 550 titles suitable for teens to read, Pan said, adding that donors could donate the books on the list to make their donations more meaningful.
Information about the 219 schools is also posted online for reference, enabling donors to decide which school they want to send the books to, Pan said.
Using his experience to encourage donations, Eric Wu (
Wu has published 73 titles of nonfiction and novels in Chinese, earning him great popularity among young readers in Taiwan.
To promote reading as an important part of school children's daily life, the ministry further encouraged elementary and junior high school students to spend more time reading.
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