Hangzhou Public Library held an event in which books became a gentle form of therapy—helping people with disabilities feel seen and heard. Ahead of the 36th National Disability Day, the “Read Your Little Universe” book club—run under the library’s “Joyful Reading Heart” initiative—held a session on May 12 at a local disability service center in Zhalongkou. The club has met seven times since its launch in March, reaching over 100 special readers across multiple disability care centers in partnership with the Library.

Launched in 2023, “Joyful Reading Heart” is a reading therapy program that focuses on five key areas: emotional healing, relationship repair, flow experiences, meaning-seeking, and resilience building. Its signature approach combines immersive activities with guided facilitation from trained “joy mentors.” The program was recognized by the Chinese Library Association as a model for reading promotion.

In this session, the group discussed the book “Live a Blossoming Life.” Joy mentors used interactive “mind cards” to help participants explore their emotions in a relaxed, playful setting. “The cards said what I couldn’t put into words,” one reader wrote afterward. “And from the reading, I drew some special strength.” That quiet shift from silence to expression captures the subtle power of bibliotherapy.

Over just over two months, the program has served more than 100 people—a modest number, but one that signals a meaningful shift in Hangzhou’s public library services: from one-size-fits-all to precise, people-centered outreach.

A good book, a film, a card game—small gestures that add up. This May, the library’s Citizen Center branch will host a weekly accessible film screening, hoping to enrich the cultural lives of people with disabilities and spread a message of equality, inclusion, and shared joy in reading.