Every library stuffed with bad books is the result of some people colluding to get kickbacks.
Written | Forest people
Yang Suqiu is a literature teacher at Shaanxi University of Science and Technology. A few years ago, she took a temporary post at the Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Sports of Beilin District, Xi'an, as deputy director. During her one-year tenure, she did a major event: preparing to build the Beilin District Library. Beilin District is located in the central area of Xi'an, but for a long time there was no library. Yang Suqiu had the daunting task of building a temporary transitional library of 3,000 square meters in six months with the help of a colleague librarian with limited funds and only one director. Until the archaeological excavations and construction of the large-scale cultural complex planned by the district government are completed, this temporary library will provide loan services for residents and visitors in the Beilin area.
As a reader, Yang Suqiu has a clear "ideal library" in his heart, but the reality is very skinny. This transitional library, in a very peculiar location, is in the basement of a shopping mall. Shocked, she was determined to make the most of her limited financial expenses to ensure that readers were looking at the library with good books. She turned to friends from all walks of life to select 10,000 books for the library. Unexpectedly, the painstaking compilation of this bibliography touched the interests of all parties, and a "bibliography defense war" began......
She wrote about this experience in Why There Are Libraries in the World. The book chronicles her "sesame official observations", the ups and downs of building the library, and the story of a group of friends who advise on the bibliography and how reading has changed their lives.
After the library was built, what was the social response? A user gave the Beilin District Library a "five-star praise" and made a special note, "This is a place where you can really read books, not a flashy film party." ”
The following is Yang Suqiu's own statement.
The rules of the game within the system
In the spring of 2020, the Organization Department of the Shaanxi Provincial Party Committee selected the seventh batch of doctoral service groups to work at the grassroots level, and I signed up. I didn't go to be an official, but to be curious about how government worked. I originally wanted to be the deputy county magistrate of a remote area – if you go to the county and visit the local villages, you will have a particularly deep understanding of what is happening in China right now. However, considering the problem of my children's schooling, I later chose the Culture, Tourism and Sports Bureau of Beilin District, Xi'an, as the deputy director. A lot of the work of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism is in direct contact with the people, and recently the directors of the Bureau of Culture and Tourism in various places have been "fancy and lively" to promote local tourism. I did live streaming when I was on a temporary job, I am a relatively "crazy" person, there is no baggage, let me toss and get high.
In the first month of my tenure, I experienced some of the rules of the game in the system. My brother is a civil servant, and when he read my manuscript, he saw the personnel meeting and said it was very accurate. For example, if someone greets you, if he doesn't know your position in advance, he will have one attitude, and if he knows your position, he will have another attitude, and he will turn his face very quickly. This phenomenon does not only happen in the system, if you think about it, if we meet people for the first time, if they are carrying a Hermes, will you think that they are rich, and their attitude towards them will be different? Therefore, everyone has a little bit of snobbery in their hearts, so we must always be vigilant and do not judge people by labels.
The Bureau of Culture, Tourism and Sports of Beilin District has nine departments, and I am in charge of four: the Cultural Section, the Cultural Center, the Tourism Section, and the Library (under planning). When I learned that I was going to be in charge of building a library, I thought, "This is the right job!" I usually feel shy about buying books, but now I can buy a lot of books, and I am very happy. But the first time I went to see the construction site, I was poured cold water.
The library is located in the basement of a shopping mall, which was originally occupied by some food stalls and clothing stores, with posters pasted in a mess, yellow-smoked walls, many wires hanging from the ceiling, and uneven floors, which feels like a ruin. I started my temporary position in September 2020, and the library had to open in half a year, and the time was tight. When I opened, I had to make sure that there were 10,000 books in the library (3 copies of each book). The original stipulation was that there should be 80,000 copies when the museum opened, but I vetoed it and adjusted it to purchase 30,000 copies in the first year, and another 50,000 copies in the second year to meet the evaluation requirements of 80,000 volumes.
During the time when the museum was built, I was always haggling and even arguing with the merchants. During the renovation, the property leaked water and the restaurant next door leaked oil, all of which were devastating. If you negotiate and make people lose money and paint the wall, the problem can always be solved, it's just a matter of time, but when it comes to "defending the bibliography", I don't have much confidence.
The museum opened on April 22, 2021, and I started compiling the new year's procurement bibliography in May, and finished it in early August, and I will end my temporary position at the end of that month. Just before I was leaving, an intermediary came in and asked for 40 per cent of my list to be removed. He later simply said, "10% is not enough for me and him, 40% is enough." ”
How can a person be so shameless? Every library stuffed with bad books is without exception the result of some people colluding to get kickbacks. Writing a book and announcing the truth was my last bargaining chip in negotiations. I went to the intermediary and told him that I was writing a book and that I would write about these events as they were. Only then did the intermediary retreat and no longer interfere.
On the eve of the opening of the museum, I published an article on the official account of "Zhenguan" "It took half a year to build a library in the center of Xi'an that is not an Internet celebrity". This article is not only to let more people know that the Beilin District Library has opened, but also to make an experiment: Are the people willing to come to read official articles? I don't like to say with an official stand that the opening of the Beilin District Library "has achieved the equalization and quality of public services"; I want to tell the public about the situation of this library in a way that does not hesitate to "blacken herself": This deputy director is not "omnipotent," she is not good at drawing, and her sketches of wall designs are very ugly; she has never done library work, but just catches ducks to the shelves. In fact, people like you to write like this. The usual reading volume of that official account is more than 20,000, and the article is more than 60,000.
Although the response to the article was good, some people within the government were displeased, and one leader criticized me for saying that this act would "bury your political and academic life." The funny thing is that I just apologized during the day, and I received a call from CCTV reporter Zhang Dapeng at night, and I was interviewed the next morning. Since the CCTV interview, the wind has changed suddenly, and I have been regarded as a positive example of my work.
Those unknown book pickers
A lot of people ask me why I put so much effort into setting up a temporary library that only lasts for two or three years? I never thought it was a problem, because "fooling around" wasn't my way of thinking, and it probably went back to how dad influenced me many years ago.
At that time, we lived in a small county town, our house was only more than 20 square meters, and my father was a physics teacher, but he would often copy oil paintings and hang them on the stove and go to the used book stalls to buy books. At its peak, there were more than 5,000 books in our house, including more than 2,000 villain books. There are thirty or fifty villain books such as "Journey to the West" and "The Biography of Yue Fei", and we don't have the money to buy the whole set, so every time my dad goes to the used book stall, he will specifically look for the missing books. Every summer he spends a few days sorting through the books and rewrapping them. There was nowhere to stay at home, so my brother and I sat in the middle of the pile of books and read without food or sleep. My dad never felt that we should make do with living in a closed environment, he felt that life should be poetic. Although he died when I was 12 years old, the way a person thinks in childhood can affect you for the rest of your life.
At the beginning of the library's opening, there were only 30,000 books, and many of the shelves in the library were empty. Readers also keep giving feedback and want to read martial arts novels, photo books, and so on. I felt that the strength of one person was not enough, so I asked more than 50 friends to recommend books. If all college teachers are allowed to choose books, it will be ungrounded. So, I also asked the hosts, designers, the elderly, food and beverage workers, blind friends, and all kinds of people to participate. I want to be able to balance interests and involve different lives.
In the second half of the book, I tell the stories of some friends who recommended the bibliography. This part is actually more difficult than the part about officialdom. If building a library is the main line and trunk of the book, then "compiling a bibliography" is a branch that can connect the stories of friends who have recommended books. I want to write about how books come into their lives.
My favorite one is "The Woman Reading the Branches." The protagonist of this article, Wang Yan, is my fellow countryman, and she was a freshman when I was a senior in college, because I started school early, and we are actually the same age. A good friend of mine used to be in the same class as her, so please take care of this fellow countryman. When Wang Yan first came to university, he didn't understand anything, so the two of us went shopping together, solved trivial difficulties in life, and gradually became good friends. When I first met her, she was a sweet, timid girl, and I watched her become a boss who led the scientific research team in the woods step by step, which was really the growth of a typical female scientist.
Wang recommended "Lab Girl" by American biologist Hope Jerlen. They are peers, and it is even possible to pass by at the "Earth Science Annual Meeting", which is amazing. She felt that this book helped her a lot, and in my opinion, Wang Yan is a living "laboratory girl".
I also wrote the story of Du Bin, a blind reader. Several non-fiction works that have been particularly popular in recent years, such as "I Deliver Couriers in Beijing" and "My Mother Cleans", are all stories of the bottom or disadvantaged groups, but there are also some voices of groups that are "invisible" to people, and they rarely have the opportunity to be published.
It is a mandatory requirement that public libraries should provide Braille reading services. At that time, most of the books assigned to us by the Braille Publishing House were related to musical instruments, massage, massage, and traditional Chinese medicine, which was what they imagined blind readers to need. However, Du Bin told me that in fact, blind friends, like other people, also love to read novels and history. He said, "Listening to a book is like someone has a bunch of stuff in your arms." Touching a book is to take the initiative to walk in, just like walking into the sea, feeling the sea water flowing over your feet little by little. "I helped him borrow a tactile map of the world and buy Braille books for him. What he wants is "A Brief History of Mankind", "A Brief History of the Future", "The Three-Body Problem" and so on. The types of Braille publications are still very limited, because the blind group is very small, there are not so many people who love to read, and some people have not even learned Braille, Du Bin is a special case.
I go to Du Bin's massage parlor about every month or two, and he's constantly growing. He likes to sing, and one day bought a soft keyboard that can be rolled up, more than 100 pieces, plugged in to make a sound, similar to an electronic keyboard. He put it on the table and practiced "Twinkle Twinkle Twinkle". He said that the piano was too expensive and he couldn't afford it, but he just wanted to learn to play it. I told him that my child was playing the piano, and in a few years, if he was too heavy to play, he could give it to him at a very low price or simply for free. He was very happy and said, "You must remember this."
Even in difficult conditions, he still wants to make life feel a little romantic. Some people regard learning the piano as a kind of identity, but some people learn the piano completely "useless", hoping to bring joy to life. It's not the same.
Du Bin was very concerned about my book, and a few days ago he asked me if I could give him a copy. I said, "Of course, but you can't read it." He replied, "I find someone to read me a few pages a day." On the title page, I didn't want to write a message, so I asked him to teach me to tie Braille, but I couldn't learn it in a short time, so I had to let him tie it himself: "Du Bin: Yazheng ......" I brought a seal and stamped it on the title page. He could see a little red, so he put the book in front of his eyes and said, "This chapter is very clear, it is very beautiful, I like it so much." ”
Why don't kids read books anymore?
Unlike many libraries, the Beilin District Library has raised the proportion of children's books purchased to more than 20%. The library is located in the heart of the city, and I expect a lot of parents to come shopping and use the library as a place to take care of their children for free.
I've left the library, and last year I asked the staff to pull up the book borrowing data, and I wanted to know what kind of books readers are borrowing now. Among the top 300 borrowed books, more than 260 are children's books, most of which are picture books, comics, etc. This shows that adults in this area are not very fond of reading. And I've found that the borrowing rate for kids aged 10-16 is also low. I have been reading with my own children, and I know that children aged 10-16 have a very large demand for popular science, history, cohesive, and interesting books, so our library has added a large number of such books. But these books are sitting there and no one is borrowing.
The Beilin District Library has a very good evaluation on the public reviews, which shows that everyone is "knowledgeable" and knows that the books here are good books. But you can't fundamentally change the reading habits of a neighborhood by building a library, and the process is very slow.
When my son was in elementary school, some of my classmates' parents were selling vegetables and fruits. Those parents worked very hard, and they had to go to the stock at five o'clock every morning. How can they take care of their children's reading in this situation? I would let these children come to our house to read and borrow books, and they were very happy. Many parents don't love their children, or they don't want to read to their children, but they don't have the ability, time, and money. If public services don't keep up, the knowledge gap widens, which is very unfair to children from low-income families.
Some of my students in college are so good at watching short videos that they don't read books at all. They say that they are always distracted when they read, and they always want to play with their mobile phones, but they can't read books. I think this root can be traced back to middle school, where middle school students are too tired now. My son is in junior high school, and our family won't let him do extra papers, but he has to study every day on weekdays at 10 o'clock in the evening, which is too exaggerated. When he was in elementary school, he had free time to read every night, and after middle school, he didn't have time to read a page from Monday to Friday.
In addition, when I was researching in the Beilin District Library, I found that many parents would prevent their children from reading "idle books", snatch the students they borrowed, and scold them. They want their children to read "serious books", such as composition papers and famous books. In my book, I wrote the story of two high school Chinese teachers, who cared a lot about reading and would rehearse dramas with students during extracurricular activities, but the principal didn't necessarily like such teachers, but was more concerned about students' grades. The question parents ask is also how to improve their child's composition immediately. If you treat reading with a very utilitarian attitude, you can't actually write a good composition, but parents don't understand this truth.
What's the point of reading a book without utilitarianism? I think if something is interesting, you will do it, and if you like it, you will do it. This kind of "useless use" is all-encompassing in ancient times, today, and in the future. Kant spoke of purposelessness, which means that your eyes should not only look too close. Good books can change the way you see things, the way you relate to the people around you, and even help you make better choices when you have a big decision in your life.
I think reading has helped me to know more about love, love in a broader sense. If I didn't love to read, I would have been a worse mother and a worse teacher. Reading makes me constantly reflect on myself, and a person who loves to read must be a person who is open-minded and more confident.
The library is still in that basement, and in a year it will be moved to a new building, when readers who have read my books will not be able to find it if they visit South Main Street.
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Lin Ziren, interface news reporter.
Image courtesy of the interviewee.