Page 98 - JOURNAL OF LIBRARY SCIENCE IN CHINA 2018 Vol. 44

FENG Jia & WANG Shanshan / The corporate governance pilots of public libraries in China 097

During this period, the contradiction between management system and operation mechanism is
inevitable and would cause some issued policies unable to be well implemented and the functions
of the board of trustees not fully be exerted. For example, Chongqing Library had established the
decision-making and supervision function of the board of trustees, but it didn’t truly perform the
decision-making function which mainly focused on recommendation and nomination. The reform
of personnel system had solved some relevant issues in Fengnan District Library in Tangshan city,
but more effective regulation documents have not been issued and the unreasonable composition
of staffs still exists. A series of supporting system documents had been issued in Nanjing Library,
but the important reform and innovation of the personnel was absent. Especially in the pilot
areas, the path of selecting the chief librarian for the board of trustees was very limited, and the
“nomination and recommendation” of candidates from the local authorities became the reviewing
objects for the board of trustees. These pilot explorations reflect the internal contradiction between
the current personnel management system and the innovation mechanism for selecting the chief
librarian by the board of trustees (Li, 2014). In addition, under the current financial management
system, the financial expenditure is always allocated to the superior department of public libraries
directly, which caused the financial budget and final accounting function unable to play the role for
the board of trustees. The decision-making role of the board of trustees for Futian District Library
in Shenzhen city was unclear under the central-branch service system. Rules and Regulations of
the Management for Futian District Public Library (2006) has seriously fallen behind the actual
conditions of local public library development, which caused the lack of the middle management
layer for the central-branch system and the middle execution layer for the board of trustees,
the multi-sectoral management for the management personnel in subdistrict and community
libraries. Poor enforcement and supervision for the board of trustees hindered the board of trustees
from functioning effectively.
Obviously, the present top design of the relationship among the government, the board of trustees
and the management of public libraries has flaws. Some phenomenon occurred from time to time,
such as unclear definition of the powers and responsibilities in the pilot unit, limited innovation by
purely following models, vague local feature, and reform becoming a mere formality.

2.3 Insufficient government support of social forces

Opinions on the establishment and improvement of the corporate governance structure of public
institutions published by the General Office of the State Council, has pointed out that the board
of trustees is the decision-making and supervision agency for the public institutions, carries out
work in accordance with the laws, regulations and the institution charter, accepts government
regulation and social supervision. The majority of the trustees should be the individuals outside
the institutions, which are vital to the immediate interests of the people. Therefore, the board of
trustees as the agency of decision-making, supervision and “the majority of external trustees”