China’s Public Library Construction Has Law to Abide By
| On April 19, 2017, the Public Library Law of the People’s Republic of China (Draft) was passed at an executive meeting of the State Council, who decided to submit the Draft to the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress for review. The executive meeting pointed out, to develop public library cause is an important part of improving public culture service system, which can push national reading, better satisfy people’s spiritual and cultural needs, improve the whole society’s scientific and cultural quality, contribute to the construction of an innovation-oriented country and a learning society, and inherit and carry forward the achievements of human civilization including excellent Chinese traditional cultures. According to relevant statistics, China’s public library networks that cover both urban and rural areas have been basically built. At the end of 2015, there were 3139 public libraries at county level and above; the public libraries all over China had collected a total of 838,440,000 books, with 0.61 book per capita; public digital cultural service capabilities had been all-roundly improved; the public libraries all over China had collected 830,410,000 e-books, whose e-reading rooms had 126702 terminals, and digital library promotion projects had been started at 33 provincial libraries and 374 municipal libraries. The Public Library Law clarifies the government’s responsibilities to strengthen public library construction and to encourage social forces’ participation in the construction, and sets forth the operation management system, service function, strengthening of digital resources construction, and realization of online and offline integration regarding public library. |