Page 37 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

036 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol. 7, 2015

Facilities are physical space and sine qua non for providing reading resources and services.
But a single facility can hardly serve a large number of people due to its limited service radius.
It is therefore necessary to make overall and coordinated plans at county level to make rational
and efficient use of the available resources so as to build an inter-connected and intra-connected
network of library facilities, which constitutes the “hardware” of the central-branch library system.
The International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA) has made
suggestions on the standards for public library facilities. IFLA requires that public libraries should
be located in the transportation hubs and close to resident communities so that the residents can
enjoy maximum convenience. In more developed urban and suburban areas, it is suggested that
public libraries be located within 15-minute drive from the residents (Koontz & Gubbin, 2010,
p.57). The United Kingdom has higher standards. In its rural areas, 85% households are 2 miles
away from libraries and in sparsely-populated areas, 72% households. In the urban areas, this
ratio is required to be up to 100% (Department for Culture, Media and Sport, 2008). The United
States does not have unified standards. Each state sets its own standards. Take Florida for example,
library facilities are located no more than 20 minutes driving time from residents in urban areas
and no more than 30 minutes driving time from residents in rural areas (The Florida Library
Association, 2010).
The indicators for land use of public library construction of China requires that the service
radius of large libraries should be no more than 9 kilometers, that of medium-sized libraries be no
more than 6.5 kilometers and that of small libraries be no more than 2.5 kilometers (Ministry of
Culture of the People’s Republic of China, 2008, pp.1-6). These regulations provide references for
building the network of library facilities at county level, and serve as basic requirements for the
site selection of branch libraries.
In addition to fixed facilities, mobile facilities can be used to deliver library resources and
services top-down. Mobile libraries are particularly useful in delivering library services to remote
and sparsely populated rural areas where it is not economical to build new facilities or other
services are not available.

2.2 Encouraging co-construction and co-sharing to guarantee resource provision and
maximize the efficiency of resources

Without resources such as books and magazines, libraries would not be able to provide public
reading services，nor would library facilities be fully used, hence the low efficiency of public
funds. According to international experience, the size of the collection of a library should reach a
specified level to have the capacity to provide services and generate benefits. It also conforms to
the law of library development. It is thus essential to guarantee resource provision.
The public library service: IFLA/UNESCO guidelines for development (2002, p.63) issued in