Changhua County Books Bring Happiness, Book Donation Competition Kicks Off

(Taiwan Business News) The Changhua County Government yesterday (the 23rd) held a press conference to launch the "Books Bring Happiness, Gather Love" book donation competition and creative reading award activity. Changhua County Magistrate Cho Po-yuan presented a letter of appointment, engaging teacher Yang Chih-lang as the reading spokesperson. This book donation activity runs from today until June 10, encouraging schools to actively seek book resources from outside sources, and hoping the public will respond enthusiastically, establishing the reading education concept of sharing good books.

The event also invited the music class of Luming Junior High School to perform melodious and wonderful Chinese music to open the activity, and Wenkai Elementary School brought a "Little Storyteller" performance.

At the press conference, Changhua County Magistrate Cho Po-yuan shared a good book, "Remember Reading This Lesson, Flip a Child's Life," and quoted Master Yu Qiuyu's saying that "reading must have an overall atmosphere." The overall atmosphere means that administrative agencies and every school can provide a good reading environment, and also that "people who love reading are invincible," because life will encounter many challenges, and through loving reading one can safely get through those challenges.

The author of "Remember Reading This Lesson, Flip a Child's Life" is teacher Yang Chih-lang of Luming Junior High School, a school in a remote area of this county. He uses pop songs to teach Chinese language and rhetoric; during morning self-study he does not give tests, teaching students to make good use of time to read good articles outside the textbook; and he takes out one-sixth of his salary to buy books, turning the classroom into a small library; and he set up three study rooms at home, providing disadvantaged students with meals and a place to study; he also achieved a full class of home runs with everyone admitted to national high schools. His persistence not only moved the principal but also moved the parents, allowing a school that was originally on the verge of being closed, in just a few short years, to increase its number of classes from 15 to the current 31, creating the "Luming Miracle" in the cold winter of declining birthrates. Therefore, it is hoped that through teacher Yang's experience and methods, by engaging him as this year's reading spokesperson, the county's reading education can achieve more remarkable breakthroughs and growth.