Page 81 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 43

QIU Guanhua / The construction of central and branch libraries in China since the 21st century 081

the cities in central and western regions, only Harbin had constructed central-branch library
before. After the activity was launched, many other cities began the construction, too, including
Changsha City of Hunan, Yuzhong District of Chongqing, Karamay of Xinjiang, Tongchuan City
of Shanxi, and so on. Based on the research achievements of former system design and regulated
by the governmental documents, these central-branch libraries were all led by the government.
For example, the People’s Government of Changsha Municipality issued “The Implementation
Proposal for the Building of Changsha’s Central-branch Libraries System” (Document No.
53 [2013] issued by Changsha Municipal People’s Government General Office), which meant
the entire system building was government-led in the very beginning. In Yuzhong District of
Chongqing, District Government led the building of central-branch library and constructed 6
branch libraries under the central one in 2012. The construction funds were provided by the local
fiscal revenue. Each branch library could receive 200 thousand yuan, which was included into
the annual budget of the library, for operation every year. Full-time librarians of branch libraries
were directly recruited and appointed by District Culture Committee and accepted the centralized
management of Yuzhong District Library. The performance of branch libraries improved steadily
within a few years. In 2016, visits to these branch libraries totaled 168 thousand times and the
number of borrowed books reached 22 thousand, an increase of 130 percent and 80 percent
respectively over those of 2013 , manifesting a relatively good performance in terms of service
〇a ①
benefits.
Building Demonstration Zones also led the innovation and exploration of equal and
professionalized services of public library. Some service innovation programs had already became
the contents of central-branch library construction. The extensive construction of 24 hours block
self-service book borrowing and returning machine, 24 hours self-service library and “mobile
library”, and the large-scale implementation of “You Purchase Books, I Pay for Them”, “Online
Borrowing, Community Delivery” not only complemented the services offered by real branch
library, but also solved the problem of high costs in setting up real library in areas with a small
population. In addition, the concept of “Library Plus” emerged, for example, “ Library Plus Scenic
Spots” of Changshu City Library, “Enjoying Coffee and Reading” of Qingdao City Library, “Cafe
with Books” in Jiangyin City, ”Iridescent Clouds Plan” in Inner Mongolian, “Library-bookstore
Cooperation” in Foshan City and Suzhou City, and “Library Plus Xinhua Bookstore” in Tongling
City.
Since some progress was made in the construction of central-branch library, the practices began
to extend to the rural areas. In 2011, Wujiang District of Suzhou City integrated the resources of
Modern Distance Education Center for Party Members in Rural Areas, Rural Services Stations in
the Sharing Project, Village Library and Rural Library, thus providing multiple services with the
least cost and building the “Four-sphere” Comprehensive Information Service Center in Rural

① The data and relevant information were provided by Yuzhong District Library of Chongqing