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SW China's largest library to open in Chengdu

The new Sichuan Provincial Library, which will be the largest in Southwest China, will open to the public on Dec 26, Xinhua reported.

The new library, located to the west of Tianfu Square – the center of Chengdu city-- is 38.5 meters tall and covers a floor area of 52,000 square meters.

Sichuan’s government started to construct the new library in 2009 and has invested 490 million yuan ($75.67 million) in it.

The library will hold more than 7.5 million volumes, including a large collection of braille books and audio books, enabling people with visual impairment to read and enjoy the library environment. Its resources can be accessed in 183 cities, counties and districts in Sichuan via a digital service platform.

The library houses 31 reading rooms, capable of accommodating 6,000 readers. In particular, it has reading rooms specially designed for children and the handicapped, where they can retrieve books with the help of a speech recognition database query system.

Regular public lectures will also be held, according to Zhao Chuanrong, director of the library.

More information:

Opening hours: 9:00-17:00 from Dec 26, 2015 to April 23, 2016 (trial operation period);

9:00-20:30 after April 24, 2016.

The library will close on Mondays for employee training and facility maintenance.

The interior of the new Chengdu Provincial Library. [Photo/Xinhua]

The interior of the new Chengdu Provincial Library. [Photo/Xinhua]

By Shi Zihan and edited by Peter Nordlinger