Shi, who is almost 80 years old, is indeed the oldest volunteer reader. She honors her duty to the library and has never missed her 9 a.m. Tuesday and Thursday morning shift since she joined Xinmu Library in 2011.
During the past year or so, Shi has finished several long novels. At each recording session she is able to finish around 30 pages. At this rate, it takes two to three months to finish a 500-600 page book, she said.
49-year-old woman Zhou Ling, who lost her sight 26 years ago, is another frequent visitor at the library. Zhou said she could do whatever a normal person could do, such as "going to buy groceries and cooking," but could not read a book.
She said she spent a great deal of time listening to novels through reading software on a computer. "But those were read by a computerized voice that read too fast and had no emotion," she said. Xinmu Library's human voices made her feel "so much better."
The future
Hongdandan Xinmu Library now has a collection of 100 books, and still has a long way to go before being seen as a real library, but the number of audio books is even smaller. A larger collection is also a prerequisite to have a real social impact -- in Xinmu's case, to reach more blind people.
The ideal business model is to collect and distribute audio books through a web-based platform. In so doing, blind people can easily access audio book resources at home, according to Ms. Zheng Xiaojie.
"We have to rely on the society to help those with visual disabilities. It's an enormous undertaking that the government alone is unable to fulfill," Zheng said.
During her years of effort, Zheng has been aware that non-governmental organizations, albeit small in number and marginalized in position, often touch upon the aspects governmental agencies overlook, and approach the blind more directly.
"While China Disabled Persons' Federation was still issuing vouchers as a form of basic assistance, Hongdandan was already pioneering in giving them the right to choose cultural products," Zheng said.
Among all the difficulties Xinmu Library faces, including a lack of financial support from the government, Zheng was mostly concerned with her crew of readers.
Hongdandan has said it will finish recording ten thousand books by 2015, a goal that requires ten thousand volunteer readers.
"Still, few people have the patience and the serenity to join us," Zheng said.
This is the most real, most helpless and most motivate life expense of Beijing!
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