Digitization provides new accesses to public libraries

At the recently held 2023 World Internet Conference Wuzhen Summit, the National Library of China's Chinese Ancient Texts Database was selected as a Fine Case of Building a Community of Shared future in Cyberspace in 2023.

The online retrieval and reading of such ancient books offer an excellent experience with abundant digital resources. Over 26.4 million pages of book images are stored there. It has allowed more people to see a different kind of public library.

Libraries have become an online famous spot, with the four floors of reading rooms almost always at full capacity. Some netizens commented, "Going elsewhere is for consumption, but at the library, it's like free gain."

Modern libraries have been existing in China and storing ancient texts for over a century. Ancient texts are not only documents for people to read and study but also cultural relics that must be collected and protected.

Currently, the widely accepted solution to the contradiction between the preservation and use of ancient texts in the academic community is digitization. In recent years, the Chinese Ancient Texts Database has mobilized efforts from various collection units and individuals across the country, with over 103,000 volumes of ancient text image resources published.

In fact, the public can use such libraries by many ways. For instance, many libraries have children's reading rooms, providing professional guidance and recommending excellent children's books. The Capital Library of China’s electronic resources offer off-site reading, allowing free at-home access to a large number of databases for readers.

The National Library of China has launched 100,000 e-books that can be read online for free this year, and readers can also listen to lectures by authoritative scholars online for free. Though many educational resources need us to pay these days, there are still many free high-quality cultural resources in public cultural institutions.

Public libraries are residence for document preservation, with free book reading rooms and study rooms. They can also serve as electronic resource repositories and online classrooms. When libraries become online, there will be more readers.
Source: China Daily; trans-editing by Wang Yunya