Page 38 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

Wugang JIN / A study on construction and accomplishment for the county level central-branch library system in China 037

2001 stipulated that an established book collection should be between 1.5 to 2.5 books per capita.
The revision of The public library service guidelines published in 2010 raised the standard to
an average of 2 to 3 items per capita (including books, DVD, etc.). The size of collection of the
smallest libraries should be no less than 2 500 items regardless of the number of people they
serve (Koontz & Gubbin, 2010, p.75). Library collection should be updated on a regular basis.
Established libraries serving 100 000 people should have a collection of 200 000 and purchase
20 000 annually. Those serving 50 000 people should have a collection of 100 000 and purchase
11 250 annually. Those serving 20 000 people should have a collection of 40 000 and purchase
5 000 annually (Koontz & Gubbin, p.78). In Australia, the baseline standard for collection items
of public libraries is 2 per capita and 50% of the collection items should be published in the past 5
years (Australian Library and Information Association, 2012).
Reading resources are underfunded in counties in China. The Public library service standards
(GB/T 28220-2011) promulgated in 2011 specified that expenditure on library materials should
in principle grow pari passu with fiscal revenue. However, the annual fund earmarked to county-
level libraries is only 0.18 Yuan per capita including the expenditure on digital resources (State
Administration for Quality Supervision and Inspection and Quarantine, National Standardization
Administration Commitiee, 2012). Having library facilities is one thing, while ensuring the
quantity, quality and variety of library resources is another. It requires sound institutions and
rational use of fiscal revenue to guarantee the funding so that library resources can be acquired and
shared in a coordinated way at county level.
(1) County-level libraries are recommended to utilize in a coordinated way the supplementary
budget for book replenishment and update at Farmers’ Reading Rooms
Each village now has a Farmers’ Reading Room. According to the requirements of the Interim
measures on the administration of the Farmers’ Reading Room Project (Press and Publication
Administration, 2008), the baseline standard for the collection of a village library is 1 500
books, 30 newspapers and magazines, and 100 audio, video and electronic materials. There does
not seem to be a big difference between this standard and IFLA’s standard of 2 500. However,
problems do exist. The most common one is the untimely update of library resources due to
insufficient fund. The lack of outflow of old books and inflow of new books results in a gap
between supply and people’s demand for reading.
The Interim measures on the administration of funds earmarked by the central government
for the culture development in rural areas specified that an annual amount of 2 000 Yuan per
Farmers’ Reading Room should be granted to “replenish and update reading resources” (Ministry
of Finance, 2013). This regulation guarantees the long-term development of Farmers’ Reading
Rooms. However, the average market price is 30 Yuan per book. That is to say, the 2 000 Yuan is
only enough to buy 60 books at most and cover some other necessary expenditures. The low update
rate makes it difficult to meet the increasing needs of rural residents for reading. What makes
things more difficult is the centralized way of distributing books. Though accommodating to some