Joan Boulerice recommend books in English to students at Bao Qiong Library at Yunnan Normal University in June. PHOTOS BY CHEN LIANG / CHINA DAILY

But why a library?

Boulerice explained that over the years, she found that Chinese students’ English didn’t go beyond a certain point and was always “ma ma hu hu (so so)” for her, even in Beijing and even if they were all English majors.

“I began to wonder why the Chinese students don’t make progress beyond a certain level. Then I thought perhaps the reason is they don’t read (English books),” she said.

She visited the school library and found that the books in English there were too hard for her students to read. She said she thinks that Chinese students cannot easily understand many English classics such as Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte.

“What they need is (English) books at their own level,” she said. “So in our library we have books from very simple up to very difficult. So every student, including a freshman, can start reading books. When they read books, you can see a remarkable improvement in their English.”

The American teacher decided that her legacy in China would be having done what she could to improve Chinese students’ ability to read English.

Her students always read many more books in English than students of other foreign teachers, she said. “Then they all in love with reading,” she said. “Even when I’m not their teacher anymore, they will still do it.”

In the past semester, her students had to read at least 15 books in English and each one had to be at least 100 pages.

“You have to push them, so later they will push themselves,” she said. “The hardest thing is getting boys to read. Girls like reading more. Boys you have to really push them harder.”

The library offers very simple books so that students can get started, she said. “When they get confidence, they can read,” she said. “If kids come and I see them confused, I will try to talk with them, help them find the books. We try to make sure no one is lost.”

In 2014, Boulerice opened a Bao Qiong Library in Huaning No 1 Middle School in Yuxi, Yunnan.