The village bookworm of 31 years

Sun Yanwu studies in his small home, an eight-square-meter house in Duoxiao village, Anding county, Central China's Henan province, Nov 20, 2011. Sun has dedicated himself to the village's education for decades without seeking any material return. In 1980, he spent his dismissal wage of 500 yuan ($78.53) on buying 100 books and 10 newspapers and periodicals, establishing a mini library named "Zhihai Shuwu" free to villagers. The library was set up in an eight-square-meter room of a house Sun owns. Then Sun invested more than 7,000 yuan plus another 7,000 yuan donated by social sponsors in 1986, building a 115-squar-meter one-story house to store more and more books he collected. Over the past 31 years, he has invested 310,000 yuan to expand the library by enriching the collection to more than 70,000 books and 380 newspapers and periodicals. Now, funded by the local government and social sponsors, a newly built two-story house covering 310 square meters will be put into use in the village by the end of 2011. However Sun Yanwu and his family are still living in a eight-square-meter old house.[Photo/Xinhua]

Sun Yanwu stands in front of a newly built library, which will be put into use at the end of 2011, in Duoxiao village, Anding county, Central China's Henan province, Nov 20, 2011. [Photo/Xinhua]