Page 45 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

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

3.2 Operational support from municipal-level libraries

The relationship between municipal-level and county-level libraries is not a superior-and-
subordinate one, either, but it is closer than that between provincial-level and county-level libraries,
since municipal-level and county-level libraries are located within the same municipality and have
more operational cooperation.
In the course of promoting the county-level central-branch library system, what kind of new
roles should the municipal-level libraries play? Judged from the piloting experience of the central-
branch library system in Jiaxing (C. P. Li, 2012), Suzhou (Qiu, 2014), Hangzhou (Liang & Feng,
2013), Shenzhen (“Guiding opinions on the central-branch in public library system development
of Shenzhen City”, 2012), and Changsha (Z. Y. Wang, 2014), municipal libraries generally assume
the functions of the “library headquarters” in county-level central-branch library systems and hold
responsibilities for guiding the operational coordination of all libraries within the municipality and
providing them with operational support.
In the second half of 2014, the author participated in the research and formulation of The
headquarters & central-branch public library system service standards in Jiaxing. As a
municipal-level library, the Jiaxing Library serves as the “library headquarters” within the central-
branch library systems of Jiaxing municipality as well as the five counties (Haining, Pinghu,
Tongxiang, Jiashan and Haiyan) under its administrative jurisdiction. After several rounds of
studies, discussions and feedbacks regarding the Standards, the main functions of the “library
headquarters”—the Jiaxing Library have been finalized as follows: 1) guiding and coordinating
the development of public libraries in Jiaxing, including for example formulating municipal public
library service regulations, designing guidelines for the public library resources, projects and
service provision, planning and organizing citywide reading events, and creating and cultivating
brands for such events; 2) guiding and supporting the operations of public libraries around the
city, such as providing operational guidance, resources, technical and service support for their
operational activities; 3) organizing and coordinating the human resource training and development
of public libraries, by means of demonstration-based training for in particular the curators and core
employees of county-level central libraries and township-level (sub-district-level) branch libraries
and implementation of training assessment and management systems for public library employees;
4) providing guidance and overall management over the innovation and research of public library
services, such as guiding, summarizing and promoting the innovative practices and service brand
building experiences, as well as offering overall planning and guidance for the public libraries
in users’ needs investigation and service innovation studies; and 5) making overall arrangements
for the development of municipal library digital resources and services, the utilization of relevant
procurement funds, the joint procurement of digital resources, and the construction of the unified
digital service platform for general readers.