Now, the busiest hours are usually class breaks and lunchtime.

Some children step in with firm conviction in their eyes and stride toward a section they know never disappoints, while others wander in randomly and without a goal, but end up curling up on the floor, absorbed in a story.

In addition to helping children borrow and return books and organizing the shelves, Liao enjoys chatting with the students about their choices.

"Picture books are popular with the students, and I also ask them whether or not they would read the words written in them," she said.

"Some senior students also borrow harder-to-read literature, and I ask them whether they were able to finish the book and their thoughts about it."

It is easy to spot first-timers who appear to be in a daze when seeing the shelves of books, according to Liao. "I encourage such students to close their eyes, pick a book at random and try it," she said.

She said that she insisted that the library should be open five days a week on all regular school days, and that seemingly obscure books for primary school pupils — such as an abridged version of The Red and The Black by French novelist Stendhal — should remain on the shelves "Even though some days are less busy than others, I want this library to be open whenever a kid feels like roaming around here," she said.

"Some books may sit still on the shelf for months or even years, but I still want these kids to see these books' names frequently so they at least understand that there are such works out there, and that there is a much larger world for them to explore."

Liao said that many students at the school are being raised in single-parent families. Some parents are farmers on the outskirts of Beijing or they live in nearby villages.

"My impression is that the students here may not be able to spend a lot of time with their parents, so books can be an outlet for them to seek answers to their confusion and questions," she said.

She added that she was taken aback by a student's inquiry about books related to Adolf Hitler.

"Later, I learned that some pupils had come across him on short-video platforms while using their parents' mobile phones for fun," she said, noting that her solution was to add books on military history or those with anti-war themes to the library.

Challenging tasks

Zuo, director of the Weilan Library project, said that finding sufficient staff members and volunteers to operate the school libraries is one of the most challenging tasks for the organizers.

"It takes a great amount of effort to run a library, from preparations such as cataloging books and making lending cards for the kids to the repetitive work of handling book loans, repairing worn-out books and countless other trivial issues," he said.

Zuo said that digital tools have played a significant role in addressing the problem.

"We have set up an online Weilan Library community where full-time librarians and volunteers can sign up for shifts, write work memos or handle financial matters on one platform," he said.

"Also, at 8 pm every night, an intranet message is sent across the platform, detailing which branch is short of staff members so volunteers who have plenty of free time will be able to know which place needs assistance."

Liao said that the branch at the primary school in Tongzhou has about eight long-term volunteers. Across Beijing, most volunteers are full-time mothers, retirees, college students and freelancers.

Li Yuchen, 42, has been volunteering at different branches of the Weilan Library project since late 2019. It takes about two and a half hours to ride on subways and buses from her home in Xicheng district to the school in Tongzhou.

"I love spending time with kids, and working at an on-campus library means that I have the opportunity to communicate and chat with them," she said.

She received training on how to demonstrate picture books for children and began giving classes at the school after obtaining permission from the principal.

"To grab the kids' attention, I introduce myself as Sister Raindrop and my colleague as Sister Cat," she said. "It's interesting to see how they never get tired of interesting stories. They beg me to retell the same story over and over again."

Holding a picture book in front of a class of more than 40 students, Li understood that some students sitting at the back might not be able to see the illustrations clearly or might be distracted from time to time.

"But that's perfectly OK to me because it is not an official class," she said. "I want them to understand that there are different books here for them to choose from, and if they are interested, I am always here to lend a helping hand and share stories with them."

On the window of the library, there is a postcard written by a third grader. It reads, "Even though your library is small, for us it is a grand hall of knowledge and teaches us so much."