Shanghai Library Prompts Debate on the Proposed Public Library Law
|
THE SYMPOSIUM was organized on January 5th in Beijing by the Peking University-affiliated National Research Center for Modern Public Culture, in collaboration with the MCPRC (Ministry of Culture of People’s Republic of China)-sponsored Public Cultural Service Research Base and the Law and IPR Committee under the Library Society of China, in solicitation for comments on the draft of the “Law on Public Library”.
It took place in the wake of the publishing of the full text of the preliminary version of the “Law on Public Library” by the State Council on December 19th, 2015 in a call for advices and suggestions from all walks of life. The event invited more than 40 experts representing libraries in the Beijing/Tianjin area, who were expected to echo the appeals of the library circle and ignite some inspirations to facilitate the introduction of the Public Library Law. The draft version, long anticipated to take effect in an ASAP manner, was unanimously acclaimed in terms of the overall goal and principles. Meanwhile a number of suggestions were made, requiring the rethinking of the “Public Library” definition, a more explicit description of the library functions, as well as the standardization of the differentiation of library initiated by the government or NPO. The delegates also call to promote the protection of the librarians’ interests, benchmark the qualification of the library employees and normalize the post-employment trainings. |