Re: "How necessary are these rare Chinese books?" Letters, Oct. 31.
In response to the recent letter to the editor regarding the Dr. Lee donation, I would like to confirm this large donation of books does indeed come from Dr. Lee's personal collection. Dr. Lee's collection reflects his interest and depth of knowledge in a wide array of subjects including Chinese history, literature, medicine and art and is an incredible resource to our community.
The thousands of books that Dr. Lee has previously donated to the library since 1995 were added to our very popular and well-used Chinese language collection and these books circulated exceptionally well. Over 15 per cent of our total circulation of materials comes from our Chinese language collection; not surprising given that 44 per cent of our community is of Chinese origin. Given the variety of subjects covered by this recent donation, we anticipate that it will prove to be of great interest to readers.
The library has been provided with onetime additional funding in order to make the books accessible to the community and the process of unpacking and preparing the books for the shelves has begun. Room for them has been made at the Brighouse branch library and they are already beginning to appear on the shelves. Given the size and scope of this collection, cataloguing and processing it will take considerable time but it remains a high priority for the library.
Members of the Richmond Chinese community have expressed their appreciation for this important addition to our library's collections and they have joined with the library in expressing their gratitude to Dr. and Mrs. Lee. Dr. Lee is a firm believer in the value of lifelong learning and we are indeed fortunate that his love of books and learning has so enriched our library and our community.
Pat Watson, Chair Richmond Public Library Board
