"Some students said they liked the giant panda best but didn't know enough about it - even though they had visited the Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding," Zhang said. "They came up with the idea for a library with publications and audiovisual products about pandas."

Located on the same road as the panda base, the school is China's only one named after the giant panda, said Li Jie, a base information officer.

Staff members from the base have given lectures on pandas at the school, and students served as guides at the base in January for 15 UN designees from 14 countries - the United Nations Panda Champions for the Global Goals.

The group stayed in Chengdu for five days after winning an online contest co-sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and the base.

Patrick Haverman, deputy country director for the program, said pandas symbolize the plight of the world's diminishing wildlife in the face of climate change and loss of natural habitat.

He praised the students who initiated the panda-themed library idea.

When a person gains knowledge about pandas, what follows is greater awareness of nature and the environment, and the need for preservation, Haverman said.