Page 63 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.45, 2019

062 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.11, 2019

will stay away from anxiety and misleading. Only by confronting the difficulties can we turn the
crisis to opportunity.

2 How to improve the legal system of the library

The Public Library Law of the People’s Republic of China was passed in the 30th Session of

the Standing Committee of the 12th National People’s Congress (2017) on November 4, 2017.
It has 6 chapters and 55 articles. The law clarifies that “public libraries refer to public cultural
facilities that are free to the public, collect, organize and preserve document information, and
provide services of inquiries, lending, and related services as well as social education”. “Document
information” has dual meanings which may refer to “documents and information” or “documents
as a kind of information”. Nevertheless, it essentially refers to “carriers that record knowledge
and information”. “Document information” covers both “paper books and journals” and “digital
resources”. The Public Library Law of the People’s Republic of China puts forward: the nation
should construct standard and interconnected public library digital service network, support the
development of digital reading products and research on techniques to preserve digital resources,
and encourage public libraries to provide convenient services by making use of digitalized and
networked techniques. The essential function of the public library is to “inherit and develop
excellent Chinese traditional culture, carry forward revolutionary culture and develop an advanced
socialist culture”. The law also legislates on the positioning, developmental direction, construction
conditions, developmental principles, and major tasks of the public library, which fills in the legal
gap and initiates the improvement of legal system in the library. Therefore, it is fair to consider the
enactment of the library law as a milestone. This is why some experts pointed out in their reports
that the public library was undergoing the best developmental period. The library in the new era is
faced with new tasks and requirements since the existence and development of the library is legally
guaranteed, and digital resources are incorporated into the scope of operation. The opinion that “the
library will perish” is untenable under this circumstances.
In the meanwhile, we should also be aware of the fact that the library law targets at
public libraries. The Article 48 prescribes that “the state supports public libraries to enhance
communication and cooperation with academic libraries, scientific research libraries and other
types of libraries and to provide joint services”. Yet the law does not cover academic libraries,
scientific research libraries and other types of libraries. In the archive and information fields which
are closely related to the library, the Archives Law of the People’s Republic of China was passed in
the 22nd Session of the Standing Committee of the 6th National People’s Congress on September
5, 1987 and revised for several times. The Measures for the Implementation of the Archives Law
of the People’s Republic of China was enforced by the administrative department in 1988 and
revised for several times later. The National Intelligence Law of the People’s Republic of China
(intelligence here is different from intelligence in terms of the Library and Information Science)