Page 13 - Journal of Library Science in China 2020 Vol.46

012 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.12, 2020

Taking nationwide reading as an example, all sectors of society hold and participate in reading
events as nationwide reading is elevated to be the national strategy. Some industries begin to
provide reading services to manifest cultural connotation and attract attention. For instance,
the Sanlian Bookstore opened the “Midnight Study”. The Xinhua Bookstore in Huashi, Beijing
provided comfortable and quiet space and 60,000 volumes of books for 24-hour reading service.
The bookstore also held various activities such as sessions sharing new books, reading clubs and
lectures. The Xinhua Bookstore in Sanxiaokou, Hefei of Anhui Province provided free circulation
service for users to gain popularity. On the opening day, over 20,000 people visited the bookstore,
which made it go viral. The “Library in the Cloud” built by Vanke cultivated cultural connotation
and commercial values by means of library services. E-commerce platforms such as Amazon, and
Dangdang offered monthly subscription of e-books at a low price which was welcomed by tens
of thousands of users. In 2017 e-book sales in Dangdang increased by 126% and the download
of e-books increased by 51% than 2016 (“Data report on Dangdang cloud reading”, 2018). More
and more public places including airports, stations, hotels and restaurants provide book circulation
service freely or at a low price. These new ways of reading services are good models for the library
to follow in promoting nationwide reading, which challenges the library’s services nevertheless.
In addition, more and more social forces have participated in the construction and services of
public libraries through donation, building, undertaking operations and so on in recent years. The
function of the library such as information consulting, reference, learning guidance, innovation
support and cultural communication has become new objectives and directions for other cross-
boundary industries. Even some traditional core operations have been confronted with challenges
from other industries. More booksellers and suppliers are able to offer standard bibliographic data
along with books. The management of some public libraries in the Haidian District of Beijing,
Wuhu of Anhui Province and Hengshui of Hebei Province has been undertaken by companies. The
operations, management and services of the library is no longer exclusive for other industries.
It seems that we will be positioned in the ever-evolving trend of cross-boundary integration and
competition. The library should take the initiative to develop new strategies of cross-boundary
integration and consider it as one of the focuses in future work. The library should also enhance
crisis awareness and take precautions. On the one hand, the library could define its orientation and
reinforce its core competitiveness. On the other hand, the library could make proactive changes
and establish the idea of cross-boundary integration. We should cooperate with other industries
and institutions to enrich services and expand the boundary of library services to accommodate to
changes of social and information environment.

2.2 The iteration of information technology making the innovative development high
priority

Nowadays, information technologies such as omnimedia, big data and cloud computing are