Do Chinese kids often go to the library?

From my observations, yes, at least city kids do. Whenever I pop into a library, the place is filled with readers, especially on weekends, and most are younger kids. Some are so captivated by what they are reading that they sit on the floor cross-legged, leaning against a bookshelf.

By contrast though, I think country kids are much less inclined to go to the library, and rather, they’ll hang out with their peers out in a field somewhere. I believe a lot of ‘em read too, but it’s difficult to find a proper library in rural areas, and so they’re unable to visit the library; it’s just not practical, and might instead form part of an excursion to ‘the big city’.

• pop into 走进
• is filled with 充满了
• captivated by 着迷
• cross-legged 盘腿
• much less inclined to 不太可能
• hang out with 和……一起玩
• proper 真正的
• unable to 不能
• excursion 短途旅行
• 'the big city' 大城市

Did you go to a library when you were a kid?

No, I didn’t, and for the same reason that I just mentioned; there just wasn’t a library in my neck of the woods for miles around.

And because of that, books other than textbooks were a ‘hard currency’ among us school kids. The books went around so many hands that the pages quickly became tattered and torn, and dog-eared.

By the time I entered junior high, a so-called ‘library’ was set up by the school authority, but in fact, it was only the size of one regular classroom and there weren’t many options, and as a result, I never even stepped into this make-shift library.

• hard currency 硬通货
• tattered and torn 破烂的
• dog-eared 卷角的；翻旧了的
• options 选择
• stepped into 踏进
• make-shift 临时凑用的

Do you often go to the library?

No, these days I don’t. In fact, I hardly ever go to a library now. It’s not that I don’t enjoy reading, it’s just that I like to own my books rather than borrow them. I’m one of those that takes notes and jots them down in the book. Reading is one of the very few long-term habits that I have.

I do, however, once in a while, go to a large bookstore in town, and on the weekends, the children’s section, which is pretty big, is absolutely choc-o-bloc full of rug-rats, all sitting and splayed out all over the place. I find it quite incredible.

The only time I consistently went to the library was back in my uni-days, and was pretty much the only place I hung out on weekends, reading from dawn till dusk.

• borrow 借
• jots down 记下
• long-term habits 长期习惯
• choc-o-block 拥挤
• rug-rats 小孩子
• splayed out 随意坐着
• consistently 一贯；经常
• uni-days 大学时光
• hung out 闲荡
• from dawn till dusk 从早到晚

What do you usually do in a library?

There’s a lot to do in a library such as researching, reading, or just thinking. But for myself, I only read in the library. I remember those days spent in my university library, I was devouring books on any themes and topics I had an interest in. I even had my favorite corner!

• devouring 如饥似渴地读
• themes 主题
• topics 话题
• had an interest in 对……有兴趣