Page 7 - Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.47, 2021

006 Journal of Library Science in China, Vol.13, 2021

level, hoping to make new contributions to transformation from digital libraries to smart libraries.
The idea of the National Smart Library System was put forward at the beginning of 2020, and a
preliminary framework was constructed after adequate discussions by experts from the academia
and industry. In early September 2020, at the first anniversary of General Secretary XI Jinping’s
reply to retired experts of the NLC and the 111th anniversary of the founding of the NLC, we
invited directors of public libraries at or above the provincial level to attend seminars. Basic ideas
of constructing the National Smart Library System were shared, which aroused strong resonance
and received a lot of valuable opinions and suggestions. After in-depth argumentation, extensive
soliciting of opinions and repeated revision and improvement, the NLC has formally proposed the
construction of the National Smart Library System to the department concerned.
Based on the global trend of smart society, the paper analyzes libraries’ changes in concepts,
operations, knowledge services and space layout, and the urgency of smart transformation. This
paper also provides a detailed explanation of the general idea, content, structure and vision of the
National Smart Library System in order to open a new chapter for the transformation to digital
libraries with libraries of all levels and types.

1 The economic and social development has entered a new era of building a
smart society

At present, the human society is undergoing the new scientific and industrial revolution led by
technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, cloud computing, Internet of Things
(IoT), blockchain and 5G. Intelligent technology has been widely applied in medical care,
finance, transportation, manufacturing, education, culture and other fields. Scenes that once
existed only in science fiction movies, such as pilotless automobiles, AI diagnosis and treatment,
unmanned factories and unmanned supermarkets, are now gradually coming into reality. With the
implementation of intelligent transformation programs in some industries, the concepts of smart
cities, smart societies, smart countries and even smart earth have emerged, and quickly developed
to be an international agenda of significance.
In order to grasp the new opportunities brought by the new development of informationization,
major countries and regions in the world have made a series of important strategic plans for the
smart transformation and development of economy and society. In 2015, the federal government
[1]
of the United States issued the Administration’s Smart Cities Initiative and A Strategy for
American Innovation , which put forward the vision of smart cities and stressed to use big data,
[2]
smart sensors and other new technologies to reduce traffic congestion, fight crime, foster economic
growth, manage the effects of a changing climate, and improve the delivery of city services. In
[3]
2016 Japan issued the Fifth General Plan of Science and Technology . It set forth the goal of “Social
5.0”—construction of super smart cities, which emphasized that all sectors should implement
the smart strategy within the framework of the “Social 5.0” and adopt intelligent technologies