Page 73 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2015 Vol. 41

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

after Qi Xieyuan’s father.
The new library covered an area of about 1 600 square meters. It was of upside down T-shape
in plane, reinforced concrete structure. The porch was western classical style such as Ionic order
and pediment; the main facade had three latitudinal lines and three longitudinal lines. The library
had rigorous modeling, fastidious line, steady composition and elegant style. Office, reading room,
news room, periodicals room and exhibition room were set inside, with equipments strove to meet
modern library needs, commented as “the new library planned in detail and well equipped” (F. C.
Jiang,1968, preface). In 1925, the famous American library scientist, Dr. Arthur Elmore Bostwick
said, while visiting China, “the two places, managing librarianship by using the latest way and
building modern fireproofing library, are Southeast University Library in Nanjing and Tsinghua
University Library in Peking” (Zhu, 1926, pp. 81-86). X. Y. Li (1927, p.385) estimated that “in
China the only fireproofing libraries at present are Tsinghua University Library, Mengfang Library
in Nanjing and the East Library in Shanghai”.
In September 1928, Hong fanwu went to Peking and took up the post of director of Tsinghua
University Library, which was planning to expand the library building, in Beijing. As a member
of Construction Affairs Committee of New Library Expansion, he participated in discussing the
project all along, concerned the progress, found problems in time, and proposed solutions, which
made the project went with a swing. Hong suggested adding 36 windows to keep the new library
bright, and building three storeys instead of two (Wei, 2010).

2.2 Enriching collections, protecting books

Hong Fanwu attached great importance to books and documents purchase. Hong considered that
“books and journals are medium of disseminating culture and exchanging knowledge” (Y. F. Hong,
1922, p.882). The conditions of library buildings had been improved significantly and the space
for collections expanded considerably after Mengfang Library completed. However, the collection
purchasing funds was imbalanced and difficult to be allocated in time, which should be first
proposed by each department, section and university and then should be included in the university
budget. Thus, the development of the library is seriously blocked. Hong and his colleagues had to
call for donation frequently to deal with fund-shortage. Under his careful management, all of the
library work was on the right track, and the collections increased then. According to statistics of
related documents, up to 1924, Mengfang Library had 27 025 copies of Chinese books, 196 copies
of eastern-language books, 4 921 copies of western-language books, 9 116 copies of agriculture
periodicals, 2 412 copies of Chinese translations, 95 western-language magazines, 121 Chinese
magazines. The collection of Chinese books increased to 36 000 copies and western-language
books to 12 000 copies in a year (Zhang, 1998).
Hong Fanwu returned to Nanjing as professor and chief librarian of Central University in