OPENING OF FU TEI BOOKSTORE

After a year of preparation with the collaboration of various parties, Fu Tei Bookstore was officially opened in Lingnan on 15 February. The Bookstore, with a cafe inside, not only sells new and second-hand books, but also organises activities such as exhibitions and talks, providing a space for the discussion and exchange of ideas about books, arts and culture.

The bookstore is entirely run by Lingnan students; they devote themselves to planning, publicity, liaison, stocking, selling and daily operation. Some of these student volunteers have taken the courses “Work and Occupation” and “Society & Social Change” taught by Dr Sharon Chan Sin-yui, Visiting Senior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology and Social Policy. Both courses contain service-learning elements in which students can contribute to the community through running the bookstore.

The Fu Tei Bookstore Service-Learning project has been incorporated into the course “Work and Occupation” since September 2016. At that time 11 students were involved in the project , and they were divided into two teams: the publicity and design team was responsible for designing posters and posting feeds on social media platforms to promote the opening of the Bookstore; the liaison team was in charge of contacting academic staff for book donations. In the second semester, 9 students engaged in the project and were responsible for the opening and running of the Bookstore. Their duties include categorising donated books, pricing the books, deciding on the right business model, working at the Bookstore counter and organising talks. Each of these students needed to spend 25 to 30 hours on practical services; they were also required to attend two training workshops to prepare for their first visit to the serviced agencies and learn how to write group proposals. Students also needed to attend two consultation meetings to report their progress, as one of the curriculum requirements.

With the support from student volunteers and various parties, the Fu Tei Bookstore is now open, with over 500 donated books received. More events in the pipeline!