Placing Falun Dafa Leaflets in Every Public Library in Ireland

By Bridget Harris

Honourable Master and fellow practitioners,

In September, 2003, the task of making Falun Dafa leaflets available to readers of all public libraries in Ireland was achieved. In the beginning it seemed impossible, so how did this all fall into place?

In 2002, my husband Leo and I regularly went to local towns to spread the Fa. We distributed leaflets to everyone that passed by. Leo took up a position at the busy end of a town, while I moved around through shops, small businesses and other likely outlets. On one occasion we discussed the possibility of providing leaflets to libraries, but at the time we only had our local libraries in mind. Leo suggested I go into a library and seek permission to leave a quantity of leaflets there and if the response was good, then I could ask for the addresses of all of the libraries in the County. Having plucked up the courage I approached the librarian and quickly clarified the facts to her; handed her a leaflet, while at the same time explaining its contents. Her overall response surprised me, little did I know then that this was the beginning of something very wonderful and sacred and it was to open a wide door to successful Fa Rectification cultivation for me and to some extent for Leo also. This kindly librarian went out of her way to help and advise me. I ended up with the location address of the county Library headquarters the name of the relevant contact person. The librarian finally said, “take your leaflets to our headquarters on a regular basis from now on, the staff there will see that all the branches in the county will have a regular supply of leaflets, that is of course if they do not contain material pertaining to religion or politics.

I immediately became aware that this was the Fa working. We then considered the idea that the leaflets could be spread throughout Ireland, and if we were diligent in our cultivation and maintained a state of righteousness and righteous thinking, then everything would fall into place. It was obvious that a system of library distribution was up and running in each Irish county and it was wide open to be tapped into.

I then began the task of contacting every county librarian by telephone. The general response was that the service was in place for the benefit of the public and that all legitimate information material would be welcome. On each occasion when making contact it was preceded by a reading from Zhuan Falun and sending forth righteous thoughts so as to clear the environment of any possible interference. I soon built up a good rapport with the staff of each county headquarters. I thought it would be essential to identify one member of the staff in each county, thereby clarifying the truth of the Fa in a manner that lent itself to be spread around in the staff rooms. From the initial contact I always posed the question, “have you ever heard about Falun Gong?” The reply in most cases was an instant. “Yes indeed I have.”
Where, what and when revealed interesting responses. Some said they saw practitioners on the street and obtained a leaflet at the same time. Others referred to having seen the occasional TV programme. Most of the contacts read about Falun Gong and a few mentioned the release of Zhao Ming from prison in China. In nearly all instances the persecution in China against Falun Gong was a topic of conversation, I could always sense a spirit of good will towards Dafa and the typically Irish attribute of bending over backwards to help was never far away.

Early on into the operation we took the leaflets to library headquarters within driving distance from our home. For those further away we devised a system using the post. First of all, I would telephone the County Chief Librarian requesting the amount he would require, which would depend on the number of branches in the county. When this was ascertained I would make up a parcel and send if off in the post. With each parcel I always included a hand-written letter of thanks and at least a paragraph of truth clarification, this was repeated at each and every new delivery.

The present situation is that over 270 libraries in Ireland receive and display Dafa leaflets. I know for certain that they are equally in the homes of readers because from time to time I check and find out that the leaflets are regularly sought after. In fact I actually had phone calls requesting renewals.

All in all this seemingly difficult task went smoothly and in the end was successfully accomplished. The major reason for this was the constant awareness of Fa Rectification and always being in the state of a Fa rectification Dafa disciple. Every week I refer to my records, make up my parcels and then send them off to their destinations. It feels like I am running a mail-order business for pre-destined sentient beings eagerly waiting for that crucial opportunity to be saved.

I am mindful too of the many contacts I have made through dealing with library staff throughout the length and breath of Ireland. I am now on very friendly first name relationship with many of them. It pleases me to realise that because of their goodness and willingness to help distribute Dafa leaflets, they are forging their own bright future.

Thank you Master. Thank you all.