Page 40 - 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 039

Changshu Institute of Technology, the city library has established outlets such as the Changshu
Public Library Circulation Service Center. Their cooperation has allowed the integration of
resources of both the city library and the university (“Reports on the development of the initial
National Public Cultural Service System Demonstration Areas in Suzhou City of Jiangsu
Province”, 2013). The public library in the development zone in Qingdao, Shandong province
signed an “Alliance Agreement” with six university libraries in the region on resource sharing.

Their cooperation has enriched the resources offered to the public (“Reports on the development
of the initial National Public Cultural Service System Demonstration Areas in Qingdao City of
Shandong Province”, 2013).
(4) The participation of social forces should be guided and encouraged and private library
resources should be integrated and utilized
Incentive mechanisms should be established to encourage enterprises, private non-enterprise
organizations and individuals to partake in the establishment of the central-branch library system
and provide book resources for the public (Z. Z. Wang, Yin, & H. H. Wu, 2013). The government
of Chengmai, Hainan Province promulgated the Policy supporting the establishment of public
culture service system in Chengmai County. The policy encourages and supports efforts to set
up “Family Libraries”. Households with over 300 books on literature, history, philosophy and
social sciences who are willing to provide free reading services for the neighboring residents will
be given a one-off subsidy of 5 000 Yuan (“Reports on the development of the initial National
Public Cultural Service System Demonstration Areas in Chengmai County of Hainan Province”,
2013). In Changsha, Hunan province, private libraries with a book collection of over 2 000 who
are willing to join the central-branch library system and provide free reading services in line with
the requirements for public libraries, are granted fiscal assistance of no less than 50% of that
community libraries receive (“Borrow and return books with the ‘Universal Card’ for all the public
libraries in Changsha City is coming into true”, 2013).
The central-branch library system is able to integrate and make full use of all sorts of public and
private reading resources within a county. The combination of the professionalism of established
libraries and the abundant resources at county, township and village levels helps with cost saving
and social efficiency.

2.3 Urban-rural integrated provision of freely accessible services and events

Free Access is an inevitable historical trend for public libraries and the essential embodiment of
the concept of the modern library. Going through the impacts and pains of the market economy, an
increasing number of public libraries become freely accessible again to the public at the beginning
of the 21st century (S. Yu & X. Wu, 2011). In accordance with the Suggestions on promoting free
access to art museums, public libraries and culture centers (stations) in China (2011) issued by
the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance, it is the basic principle for public libraries in