Page 47 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 42

046 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol. 8, 2016

assessment and gradation in 2013 was conducted from “facilities and equipment”, “funds and
staff”, “resources”, “service”, “cooperation and coordination”, “management and commendation”,
and “key cultural projects” (Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, 2013a).As to
the assessment of reading facilities at the primary level, the Interim Provisions for Village Library
Construction by State Administration of Press, Publication, Radio, Film and Television(2008),
the Implementation Suggestions for Developing Trade Union Libraries Nationwide by All-
China Federation of Trade Unions(2008), and the Regulations on Multipurpose Culture Service
Centers by the Ministry of Culture (2009), all refer to the rigid targets as building area, book
volumes, and so on. In 2013, the first assessment and gradation of multipurpose culture service
centers nationwide organized by the Ministry of Culture was conducted from five aspects, which
are “infrastructure”, “team building”, “public service”, “leadership”, and “enhanced indicators”
(Ministry of Culture of the People’s Republic of China, 2013b).
To fully examine the overall development of public culture service system, studies have been
carried out in both the academia and the industry. S. W. Wang (2009) established the evaluation
index system of international metropolitan library, which evaluated and compared the international
metropolitan library system in terms of resources, service efficiency, service outcomes and impact.
The project group of Index System of City of Library Construction (2010) worked out the index
system which assessed the public library service system from the aspects of infrastructure, service
system and driving forces. In early 2011, the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance
initiated the “National System of the Public Culture Service Demonstration Area (Project)”,which
set the demonstration area construction standards of eastern, central and western regions, and
covered infrastructure construction, service supply, organization support, capital and talents,
technology support, and service evaluation of public culture service system (G. X. Li, 2012).
Library Society of China (2015) released the index system for book city (at the county level)
and book community, including reading facilities, reading resources, reading activities, reading
services, reading environment, and reading effects.
(2) The criteria for commercial reading facilities
Commercial reading facilities refer to the reading places for profit, such as bookstores, book
malls and book kiosks. An active book market not only maintains and expands the reading products
reproduction to provide robust material support for the national reading system construction, but
also offers more choices for the public to promote the reading diversity. Besides, independent
bookstores can be seen as the cultural landmark of a city, representing the cultural customs of the
city. The assessment on commercial reading facilities are few, and mostly bookstores are regarded
as an indicator in the evaluation. For instance, the Book City (at the county level) Evaluation
Index System takes physical bookstores, book kiosks and outlets in counties, villages and towns
as third-class indicators, and requires them “to be basically perfected and facilitate citizens to buy
and collect books(Library Society of China, 2015). Similarly, the National Reading Integrated
Evaluation Index System of Wuhan City(trial version)sets third-class indicators like “bookstores