Shanghai phone booths to become mini-libraries

Shanghai has found a new use for its public phone booths — as mini-libraries.

Some 263 booths across the city's Xuhui district will be converted to hold books and tablet PCs offering access to a range of e-books and audio files.

There will be six kinds of mini-libraries, including one that will offer books and digital information on well-known figures who used to live in the area, according to the Xuhui cultural bureau.

"Residents will first need to apply for membership at Shanghai Library," said Wang Zhuojun, a spokeswoman at the bureau. "To access the booths, users will need to scan their library card and palm print."

She said the face-lift will be completed this year, and the first will make its debut soon on Fuxing Middle Road.