Yanggu County Renovates its Library System

The Information Office of the People’s Government of Yanggu County

YANGGU, China, Jan. 24, 2024/Xinhua-AsiaNet/–

Yanggu, an ancient county with a thousand-year history in Shandong Province, has completed the construction of a new library which boasts an antique tower design that resembles the Depository of Buddhist Texts as depicted in novels. However, the library is far from old-fashioned, according to Zhang Hui, the chief librarian. The library is equipped with modern, intelligent facilities that include multi-functional self-service terminals, disinfection machines, big data-based real-time release platforms, reciting booths, and self-service machines. With their identity card, readers can complete registration in less than a minute and borrow books of their choice.

The newly constructed library covers a total area of 8,400 square meters and offers various functions such as professional reading, digital display, cultural performance, learning and self-study, social leisure and Chinese culture education and training.

The library’s WeChat account offers more than 300,000 e-books, which are popular among young people. “We can read books whenever with our phone, as if the library is within our reach at any moment,” said Lv Zhengpeng, a reader. In browsing the WeChat account of the library, he encountered a book that he had not finished before, and his interest was aroused instantly.

“Digital books have allowed public libraries to break the limits of traditional service modes in time and space, providing a new channel for citizens to look for books they want,” said Zhang Hui.

“Adopting a system in which the county library is taken as the headquarters, cultural centers at the levels of towns (or sub-districts) are taken as the branches, and the studies at the levels of villages (or communities) are taken as the reading points. In this way, books can be borrowed and returned anywhere in villages and towns of the county. Public reading resources can be effectively integrated to achieve a full coverage of all-people reading points,” said Hu Tingjian, deputy director with the Culture and Tourism Service Center of Yanggu County. Hu added that the county has also taken farmers’ studies as the carrier and relied on the broadcast system at each village to open the program of “Voice of New Farmers” with the broadcast system, so that all people can enjoy the fun of reading while staying at home.

Source: The Information Office of the People’s Government of Yanggu County