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Extended English abstracts of articles published in the Chinese edition of Journal of Library Science in China 2017 Vol.43 193

bibliography though still with a pejorative attitude. But in the conservative group, there were a few
scholars such as YAO Mingda who studied ZHENG Qiao’s bibliography thought objectively. The
other group, mainly consisted of the scholars who took the Library Science education such as DU
Dingyou and QIAN Yaxin, could be called the new. They studied ZHENG Qiao’s bibliography
thought from the perspective of Library Science and highly praised ZHENG Qiao’s bibliography
thought. The impact of the new group’s research conclusion is greater than that of the conservative
group. The turnings of the research on ZHENG Qiao in the era of Republic of China were also due
to his unconventional ideas and pursuit of simplicity, which met the social and academic trends of
the Republic of China.

No. 6

The historical contributions of the Public Library Law of the People’s Republic
of China

〇a*
LI Guoxin〇
The main historical contribution of the Public Library Law is reflected in the following aspects:
1)It clearly defines the notion of public library which not only reflects the internationally-
accepted law, but also endows with Chinese characteristics. The law provides basic guidelines for
a better understanding of the public to the public library, and for governments at various levels
in establishing and properly managing the public libraries. 2)It guides the development of public
library cause in China, and provides the answers to questions including what direction is China’s
public library going in the new era, what development principles and service aims should be
adhered to, and what historical responsibilities should it bear. 3)It meets the needs of the historical
requirement proposed by the transformation of social principal contradiction in this new era, points
the right direction for dealing with the issue of unbalanced development in the construction of
public libraries and provides the legal basis for the settlement of the underdevelopment. 4)It clearly
defines the legal responsibilities of the government in establishing public libraries and in ensuring
their daily management. The law prescribes that government at or above the county level should
establish the public library of their own; that the establishment of public libraries should consider
the conditions including population, population distribution, conditions of environment and
transportation; and that government at or above the county level should reasonably determine the
number, size, structure and distribution of public libraries according to their local conditions. The
law prescribes six basic requirements that ought to be fulfilled in establishing a public library. The
public library law also prescribes that the government should provide a stronger, instant and enough
* Correspondence should be addressed to LI Guoxin, Email: ligx@pku.edu.cn, ORCID: 0000-0003-0616-0438