Shanghai Library (Simplified Chinese: 上海图书馆; Pinyin:Shànghǎi túshūguǎn) is the second
largest library in China after the National Library
of China
in Beijing.
It is
located in Shanghai, China
. At
24 stories and 348 feet (106 m) tall, it is the
tallest
library in the world. The building has a tower that looks like
a giant
Lighthouse.
Early history
The first library in Shanghai was built in 1847. The name of the
library was the Library of the Xu Jiahui Jesuit mission. In 1925,
Shanghai East Library, the first library run by Chinese, was
opened.
In 1950, the Shanghai Cultural Heritage Managing Committee launched
a campaign to collect books and after about a year, the collection
grew to more than 200,000 volumes. Many scholars and celebrities
contributed and some of them made large donations. The committee
also started to buy books from abroad.
Merge
The first large municipal public library was founded in Shanghai on
July 22, 1952. The library had a collection of more than 700,000
volumes. Shanghai Library merged with the Shanghai Municipal
Library of Science and Technology, the Shanghai Municipal Library
of Historical Documents and the Shanghai Newspaper Library in
October 1958. It was the second largest comprehensive public
library in China, in terms of collection, services and professional
expertise.
Library in the modern era
Shanghai Library merged with the Institute of Scientific and
Technological Information of Shanghai (ISTIS) in October 1995. It
became the first ever library in China that combines public library
services with SciTech and industry information research
functions.
Today, it is the largest public library in China and one of the ten
largest libraries in the world. It was opened to the public on
December 20, 1996. It covers 3.1 hectares of land, with a floor
space of 83,000 square meters.
Internet access
On the ground floor there is a room with internet access for 4 yuan
per hour. The opening hours are everyday from 9 to 20:30.
See also
- *
National Library
of China
References
External links
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