Page 72 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 43

The construction of central and branch libraries in

China since the 21st century

QIU Guanhua 〇a *
Suzhou Library, Suzhou, Jiangsu Province 215002 , China

Abstract
The process of building central and branch libraries since the year 2000 accelerates the equalization
of public library services. This process can be divided into three stages. In the first stage (2000-2006),
attempts are made to solve problems related to government-led administration, Borrow Anywhere,
Return Anywhere (BARA) service, technical support, and centralized management. In the second
stage (2007-2010), some central and branch libraries expanded their scale and achieved remarkable
progress through professional reform. Theoretical research in this period shed light on the objective
laws in building the central and branch libraries. The third stage (2011-present) has witnessed libraries’
active participation in building “National Demonstration Zones for Public Cultural Services”, which
is initiated by the Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Finance. Researchers have been focusing on
factors related to the sustainable development of central-branch libraries system. Such research directly
promotes the promulgation of Guidance on Promoting the County Central-branch Cultural Center
System and Central-branch Library System Development. Centering its discussions on the Guidance,
this paper puts forward several issues that require special attention in building central and branch
libraries in the new development stage.
First, correctly understanding and handling the relationship between local conditions and professional
requirements. Building central-branch libraries requires appropriate solutions that avoid conflicts
with institutional barriers, so as to meet to the maximum the professional requirements in concept and
design. Second, issues in building central-branch libraries at the county level are addressed in this paper.
Third, providing universal and equitable services and fulfilling missions of the public library requires
the construction of branch libraries in physical form. New types of services can only serve as integral
parts and supplement of central-branch libraries. Fourth, the service innovation of “library plus” should
reflect the service concepts of public libraries, and guard against the establishment of service barriers or
threshold.

Keywords
Public library, Central and branch libraries, County level, Library plus

Two decades of reform and opening up have witnessed the significant development of China’s
economy, particularly since the start of the 21st century. In 2001, China’s GDP and fiscal revenue
reached RMB 9.5933 trillion yuan and RMB1.6386 trillion yuan respectively. Calculated based
〇b ①

* Correspondence should be addressed to QIU Guanhua,Email:13962519108@163.com,ORCID:0000-0003-3192-9173
① data source: “Report on the Work of the Government (2002)”, http://www.gov.cn/test/2006-02/16/content_201164.htm, retrieval
date: 2015-3-5