Camping down in the rural library, raise up for the rural children's reading literacy

Abstract

Due to various factors such as geographical location, economic development level, and allocation of educational resources, rural children are facing systematic difficulties in reading. The inadequate resources, reading environment, and underdeveloped reading habits, make rural children the "knowledge refugees" in the reading and information society. Based on the advantages of local social networks and resource connections, rural libraries can organize various reading activities to stimulate the reading interest of left-behind children in rural areas, cultivate their reading habits, and enhance their reading literacy. In the summer of 2024, we held a reading summer camp at a rural library called "Banxiang School" and carried out a series of creative reading activities that combined picture books with practice. In the summer camp, the instructors fully tapped into the library's picture books, and carried out experiential reading activities, such as creating art pieces with paper circuits, role-playing the stories of picture books, and drawing scene paintings. The activities in the summer camp helped rural children understand the books in the library and learn how to use them, stimulated their interest in reading, and cultivated their hands-on and creative abilities. The experience can also be applied in other areas. Keywords：Left-behind children; rural revitalisation; reading literacy; libraries