Page 41 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 43

LI Guoxin & ZHANG Yong / On accelerating the renaissance of public libraries in Central China 041

Table 1. Comparison of main indicators of public library development in Central and Western China 〇a ①
Indicator Region 2011 2015 Growth rate (%)
Central 1,089 1,135 4.22
Number of institutions
West 1,075 1,196 11.26
Financial allocation Central 154,456 278,817 80.52
(ten thousand) West 155,105 298,954 92.74
Reserves of resources Central 15,582 19,899 27.71
(ten thousand) West 13,300 17,348 30.44
Central 16,918 17,213 1.74
Number of staff
West 14,324 15,261 6.54
Number of activity participators Central 710.35 1,452.72 105
(ten thousand) West 563.97 1,343.21 138

Due to slower speed of development, advantages of some traditional leading indicators have
been narrowed by the West. For example, the gap of collections has been narrowed from 17.2%
to 14.7% and that of number of activities participators has been narrowed from 26% to 8.2%.
In addition, the gap in regard to those indications falling behind the West all along has been
widened for the past five years. Taking financial allocation for example, the financial allocation of
Central region was 0.4% lower than that of the West in 2011, whereas the figure was increased to
7.2% in 2015. Moreover, the gap of per capita financial allocation was expanded from 26.2% to
48.3%. Overall, main indicators of public libraries’ development in Central China have been fully
overtaken by the West.

1.3 Low level of equalization

The most prominent phenomenon of Central lowland is the low level of equalization of public
library services which is reflected by per capita level. According to statistical analysis, both the per
capita input (see Table 2) and the output (see Table 3) in Central China’s public libraries are lower
compared to Eastern and Western China．
The high density and large quantity of population are the prominent characteristics of Central
China. In view of the total, some indicators of the Central are not lower than the West, such
as funds for book purchasing, total reserves of resources, annual increment of reserves, etc.
However, as for the average, the results invert. The universal and equitable services are the core
essence of public cultural services, which demonstrates social justice through public cultural
services. The low level of equalization of public library services is the embodiment of Central
lowland.

① Table 1-Table 5 data sources: The research group of the development of public libraries in central China. An analysis report on
the development of public libraries in central China. Hunan Library, 2016.9.