By Sydney Chang 8/19/2015

The 13th Lanyu Library Service Team annual activities just came to a magnificent end! We would like to thank the Taiwan International Federation for Information Integration, FlySheet Information Services Co., Ltd., and Transmission Books and Microinfo Co., Ltd., for their financial support. This year’s activities were coordinated by freshman, sophomores, and juniors, under the supervision of two professors, Tung-Mou Yang and Yu-Wei Chang. The event was originally scheduled for 10 days from June 30th through July 9th. However, due to Typhoon Linfa, the team did not return to Taiwan until July 12th.

The Lanyu Library Service Team has a considerable 13-years history since its establishment in 2002. In that year, the team helped sift through piles of donated books and helped organize the reading room at Lanyu Senior High School. Year after year, the team has slowly changed its mode of operation to include things like a literacy camp for elementary students. Newer additions include digital and information technology courses directed at junior high school students. The 2015 event list includes: arrangement and promotion of the library, summer literacy camp and information literacy camp for elementary students, and digital and information technology summer courses for junior high school students.

Arrangement and promotion was done primarily at the Lanyu County Library, and the reading rooms at Yeyou Elementary School and Lanyu Junior High School. This work comes on the heels of past work in maintenance and arrangement at the county library, which included the arrangement of Chinese texts by Chinese Library Classification scheme; when any errors are found in the formatting of the collection, one of the stacks management personnel would re-catalogue the texts. Such work provides library-goers with a suitable reading environment and brings the library in more frequent contact with the Lanyu readership.

At the Yeyou Elementary and Lanyu Junior High reading rooms, the team helped to sort collections, catalogue, and automate the stacks, work which creates a closer reading environment for both faculty and students and bolsters readership numbers. While such work is a given at any library, what makes Yeyou Elementary different is that the team used a rough classification by genre rather than a complete system, since elementary students do not require complex classification. By loosening these requirements, the team helped lessen the workload of the teachers who work part-time in stacks management. Whereas at Junior High School the team used a full Chinese Library Classification scheme and assigned call numbers in accordance with the National Library’s cataloguing system; after updating call numbers the team re-shelved the books and reserved space for new books in each of the categories.

Sorting collections, cataloging, and automation at the reading rooms at Yeyou Elementary School and Lanyu Junior High School
(picture provided by Ying-Ling Li, student)

Summer literacy camp was held this year from 7/2 to 7/5, where students were given readings of picture and children’s books and were able to participate in other side activities to give them a head-start on good educational habits—reading and using the library. Students learned how to use the library while maintaining a proper reading environment for other readers. It is hoped that activities like literacy camp will increase readership numbers. The team also taught young students how to find and use educational resources on the Internet—another good habit formed at the camp.

Thank-you letters from the children… Thank you, children, for all the kind words!
(Picture provided by Xiu-Zhu Shi, student)

The digital resources program for junior high school students is a new addition for the 2015 year. The information technology course consists of one-to-two hours of instruction per class and is held during summer break. Students learn how to use the computer and related digital resources; they learn about free educational videos and websites; they also learn how to assess the credibility of Internet resources. Tools like Evernote, iLib Reader, Google Maps for travel, picture and audio editors, and other fun software were demonstrated to the students.

Lanyu Library Service Team Convener Shi Xiu-Zhu was optimistic even in face of the bad weather. “Even though this year’s camp suffered a slight setback with the typhoon, it actually allowed us to have a lot more time to interact with the kids, play with them, and eat with them. One of the parents thanked us for running this camp because their children would’ve been pretty bored otherwise.” One soon-to-be junior, Shi Yi-ru, reminisced, “In a place like Lanyu, you really feel human warmth again, what with all the elderly folk hauling their stools out on the streets, chatting in their tribal languages as night falls, and the grill hawkers and grocery store owners, all talking with the local children, their words entering your ear like whispers. The fog-encircled peaks, the clear endless skies, the deep blue sea and the salty sea-wind…these things just stay with you. Of course there was the typhoon, which disrupted the camp schedule, but I know this thirteen-day trip was especially meaningful. I will continue to reminisce about that special feeling I got from Lanyu.” This year’s team arrived on this secluded island to the sound of crashing waves; as they returned home, their hearts and minds were full of sparkling starlike memories. Over thirteen days of selfless giving and the laughter of children—the ending could not have been more appropriate.

(Picture provided by Li Ying-Ling, student)

(Picture at the page head contributed by Li Ying-Ling, student)