Two representatives (left) from San Diego City Council present a certificate of gratitude to Ma Jianguo (second from right), head of the Jiangsu Provincial Committee of China Zhi Gong Party, and Sean Zhang (right), vice-chairman of the Ameson Education Foundation, at a book donation ceremony held on Monday at the San Diego Central Library. China Zhi Gong Party has been a partner with Ameson Education Foundation in donating Chinese books to US libraries. Provided to China Daily

San Diego just got richer.

A Washington DC-based education foundation donated 685 books to the San Diego Public Library on Monday to support Chinese language education and promote understanding of Chinese culture in the city.

The books cover a variety of topics, from Chinese history and culture to cuisine and language.

"We've found that US readers are more interested in modern day China, especially the last 10 to 20 years," said Sean Zhang, vice-chairman of the Ameson Education and Cultural Exchange Foundation, a non-profit organization committed to promoting educational exchanges around the world.

To best serve the needs of readers, the foundation first asked the San Diego Public Library to solicit readers' suggestions. The foundation then made a list of 2,000 books based on the categories provided by the library's survey and that list was boiled down to 685, according to Zhang.

"There are a number of books in English for patrons who don't read Chinese," Zhang said.

"San Diego is honored to be chosen for this significant donation," said Scott Chadwick, the city's COO. "It will contribute greatly to the educational resources available for those interested in furthering their education in the Chinese language."

The library will make the books available through the central library and its 35-branch system, so they can be used by students and adults throughout the community, said Marion Moss Hubbard, public information officer for the library.

"The San Diego Public Library is a regional resource for the greater San Diego area and serves approximately 3 million people," Hubbard said.

The public library also participates in a regional program called "The San Diego Circuit," which allows county and university library users to check out books with their library cards, she said.

San Diego is the sixth city in the US to receive this type of donation from the Ameson Foundation since 2011, joining the Los Angeles, Washington DC, New York, Philadelphia and San Francisco public libraries.

"We have received positive feedback from the libraries," said Zhang. "The 1,000 books we donated to the New York Public Library in 2012, for instance, have been borrowed more than 60,000 times."

liazhu@chinadailyusa.com