Private children’s libraries booming in Beijing

By Annie Wei
Chinese parents with school-age children take this saying very seriously: “It takes 10 years to grow a tree but a hundred years to cultivate a man.” The good news for Pa and Ma is that there are now at least 10 public children’s libraries in town to foster children’s natural curiosity and creativity. They are all products of the vision of a handful of mothers.
Peekabook House, the biggest of the lot, houses 15,000 Chinese and English children’s titles in its first store in Haidian District. “Many of the books were brought from the US by the store’s founders,” the manager, Cheng Xin, said, referring to the Chinese mothers who opened Peekabook in 2005, after spending a few years in the US, where they discovered children’s libraries.
Douding Club’s Children’s Library started out with 500 books, a pet project of 30 mothers based in Haidian’s Shijiecheng residential building.
The 2,000 picture books in another library, My Good Friend Children’s Book, were donated by its founder Miaomiaoma. She said now that her daughter is all has grown up, she is making a reality her dream of building a children’s library in every corner.
Bluemoon Children’s Library was built by a full-time homemaker, Wang Li. “I spent 1,000 to 2,000 yuan on books every month. Now the library has 3,000 books,” Wang said.
The libraries do not charge anything if children read the books on site. If parents want to bring some of the tomes home for bedtime reading, families need to sign up for a membership priced 300 to 800 yuan a year, or pay a fee for one-time use.
“This saves us a lot of money from buying new books,”Ling Sha, a mother of a 2-year-old boy, said.
These libraries not only do not make a profit – they are also draining money from their owners in the name of community service. “It is definitely losing money,” said Zhang Hong, founder of Moshezi Huibenguan, a library in Haidian District. “We need to subsidize its operations with what we make from other businesses. Membership can generate some income, but it will take a long time just to make the ends meet,” she said.
Peekabook House spends about 300,000 yuan for rent and utility bills each year. “There are many new members but few renew their membership, so the income is still unstable,” Chen, the store manager, said.
Bluemoon Children’s Library spends much less in comparison – 72,000 yuan in rent a year – but its founder, Wang, said she is afraid the library might not last long.
Still, the libraries will not give up easily. Gongyi Xiaoshufang, a Haidian library opened by Zhang Hong, an architect with a 9-year-old daughter, had initially borrowed a room from a kindergarten since 2007. This year the kindergarten wanted to begin charging it; luckily the library founders found a free, 50-square-meter room at a community service station in Qinghuajiayuan, near Wudaokou subway station.
Volunteers will also go a long way in keeping these public children’s libraries in the neighborhood, said Peekabook’s Chen Xin.

Peekabook – Jinsong
Where: 2/F Building 10, Baihuanjiayuan, Shuangjing Dong Qiao, Chaoyang District
Open: Daily except Monday, 9:30 am – 8:30 pm
Tel: 8773 8382
Email: jinsong@peekalibrary.org
Peekabook – Sanyuan
Where: Room F305, Building 10, .Phoenix City, Jia 5 Shuguang Xi Li, Chaoyang District
Open: Daily except Monday, 9:30 am – 8:30 pm
Tel: 5866 8064, 5866 8074
Email: sanyuanqiao @peekalibrary .org
Peekabook – Wanliu
Where: Room 302, Building 1, Bishuiyuntian, Wanliu Zhong Lu, Haidian District
Open: Daily except Wednesday, 9:30 am – 8:30 pm
Tel: 8256 7276, 8256 6324
Email: wanliu@peekalibrary.org
Bluemoon Children’s Library
Where: Room A-1019, Huayuan Gongyu, 32 Huayuan Dong Lu, Haidian District
Open: Daily except Monday, 9 am – 7 pm
Tel: 8203 6255
Email: bluemoonreading@sina.com
Dream Kid Land
This is an online community where parents can share information on reading and picture books.
Web: dreamkidland.cn
Mohezi Huibenguan
Where: 288 Chengfu Lu, Haidian District
Open: 10 am – 8 pm
Tel: 8261 8538
Web: Huicholbooks.com