Central Queensland University Melbourne International Campus’ Kiwanis Club took part in the Bridge to Asia program as part of their ongoing community involvement. Bridge to Asia is a San Francisco-based non-profit organisation, which supports higher education in developing countries in Asia. It helps people and institutions find the knowledge they need for education and research.

Bridge to Asia donates books to universities and provides research services over the Internet. It also supports in-country facilities, such as a digital library and telemedicine centres that lowers the cost and encourages more efficient delivery of information.

As it was the first launch, the Kiwanis are aiming to collect a minimum of 1,000 donated texts. If this is achieved they are planning to host a 'Melbourne to Asia Day' where students of of the campus will be co-ordinating a city-wide (inter-university) book collection.

The books donated this year are likely to be sent to a remote region of China where the Bridge to Asia non-profit organization has been donating millions of books.

In May 2002 the Chinese Ministry of Education (Bureau of Higher Education) announced that, during the past five years, Bridge to Asia has provided 50-75% of all foreign language books acquired by China's 1000 plus universities.

The Melbourne International Campus encourages this kind of generosity to be part of the students at the campus as it upholds the culture of the University by preparing students for leadership in their chosen profession and in the community.

Above: CQU-MIC students donating books.

Left: Melbourne International Campus student entering data during donations.