Venerable Master Hsing Yun, the founder of Fo Guang Shan, once said that reading provides us with four benefits – it can help us to:

1. build up our image
2. change our temperaments
3. learn more about ourselves
4. expand our horizons.

With this philosophy in mind, Fo Guang Shan temples around the world have set up libraries to encourage reading, with the goal of establishing a scholarly society.