Bridging the regional Divide: Cross - System Collaboration of Reading Equity for Rural Children in China

Abstract

Regional disparities in development are a major obstacle to achieving sustainable national development. The lack of reading resources for rural children is a prime example of this structural inequality. As a localized effort to implement the UN 2030 SDG 4 Quality Education and SDG 10 Reduced Inequalities, Gaozhou Library actively seeks support from the Gaozhou Municipal authorities, Sun Yat-sen University to establish a sustainable government-university-library partnership that systematically promotes equitable access to reading resources for children in rural areas of Gaozhou. Specifically, it involves three key implementation pathways: First, in terms of mechanism innovation, they established an observation station in Gaozhou, and co-launched China's first reading plan for rural children. In addition, they created a specialized teaching and research section for reading services to integrate cross-system resources. Second, in terms of practical service, they jointly implemented a series of summer reading services for children. Third, in terms of capacity building, they continued to conduct surveys and research, develop standardized children's reading promotion toolkits, accumulate practical knowledge and built replicable and sustainable service models. Through government policy guarantees, academic research support from university, and public library services, the reading rights of rural children in Gaozhou are being increasingly safeguarded. Keywords：Reading Equity；Rural Children's Reading；Cross-System Collaboration