Page 22 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 44

The historical contributions of the Public Library Law

of the People’s Republic of China

*
LI Guoxin〇a〇
Department of Information Management, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China

Abstract
The main historical contribution of the Public Library Law is reflected in the following aspects: it
clearly defines the notion of the public library, which not only reflects the internationally accepted
law but also endows with Chinese characteristics; it guides the development of public librarianship
in China; it meets the needs of the historical requirement proposed by the transformation of social
principal contradiction in this new era; it clearly defines the legal responsibilities of the government
in establishing public libraries and in ensuring their daily management; it innovates public libraries’
governing structure; it promotes the integration of public library services with modern technologies; it
establishes fundamental guidelines for encouraging public participation in public library development;
and it clearly defines the nature and functions of the National Library and perfects publications deposit
system.

Keywords
Public Library Law, Public librarianship, Public cultural services

It is the one century-old dream of Chinese librarians to enact laws to guarantee the development
of librarianship. In the early 20th century when modern libraries were incipient, discussions were
held about the legalization of libraries (Li, 2005). In the early 1980s, the study of legalization of
libraries started in parallel with the reform and opening-up policy. In the spring of 2001, the work
of formulating the Library Law of the People’s Republic of China officially started. However, in
June 2004, the legislation work was brought to a halt. At the end of 2008, the legislation process
was restarted. According to actual conditions, the Public Library Law of the People’s Republic
of China (hereafter referred to as PLL) was the first to be legislated. Over ten years’ efforts, PLL
was passed in the 30th Meeting of the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress
on November 4, 2017 and enacted on January 1, 2018. In the historical new era of socialism with
Chinese characteristics, the PLL as the first cultural legislation since the 19th National Congress
of the Communist Party of China demonstrates the significance of public librarianship in socialist
culture with Chinese characteristics. It also means that public libraries play an important role in
keeping up with people’s ever-growing needs for a better life. The PLL signifies that the over one
hundred-year-old public librarianship has stepped into a new era.

* Correspondence should be addressed to LI Guoxin, Email: ligx@pku.edu.cn, ORCID: 0000-0003-0616-0438