National Library of China.

China.
The earliest evidence of Chinese libraries dates back to the Shang Dynasty (1040 BC). At that time, they were collections of oracle bones, tortoise shells and shells. If we consider these libraries from the modern classification, then we will see a typical branch library on magic and predictions a la Hogwarts.

Flipping in the imagination 800 years forward through the chapters of history, we will find ourselves in the time of the first Chinese emperor (220 BC), which was not only famous for the Great Wall of China and the unification of the Celestial Empire, but also for the general revision of library funds in its state. The emperor was ardent and prudent: in order for the young country to avoid a subsequent possible split, he ordered that all books "interfering with the foundations of the state and undermining its integrity" be burned. However, at the same time, two copies of the burnt works were to be included in the emperor's personal library. Apparently, only the Son of Heaven was supposed to have access to forbidden information. Be that as it may, this deed could not save Qin Shi Huang's empire from an early collapse, as soon as the body of the emperor found himself in the tomb under the protection of the terracotta army. However, some scientists consider the episode with the total cleansing of funds to be legendary and not having reliable grounds.
Among the librarians of the next dynasty, the Han (206 BC - 220 AD), it is worth noting Liu Xiang (80 BC), who prepared the first Chinese bibliography, and his son Liu Xin, who created the first catalog of the imperial library. (portrait of Liu Xiang)

For many centuries to come, Chinese libraries were quite busy business as usual- were created, assembled, developed, and then burned, destroyed or optimized. The change of dynasties was especially painful for libraries - it is difficult to survive in the flames of another struggle for power ...
18th century - the heyday of the librarianship of the Celestial Empire. Emperor Hongli (photo) (also known as Qianlong), belonging to the Manchu Qing Dynasty, ordered the construction of the first National Library, which was given access to scholars. Students have an official opportunity to work in private and monastic libraries. However, not everything was so happy: censorship flourished, fires of objectionable books blazed regularly. From 1774 to 1784, more than 2.3 thousand publications were completely banned, and 342 were partially banned. In 1774-1782, they were burned with noticeable regularity 24 times: during this period, almost 14 thousand books were thrown into the fire. Particularly curious is the category of books "not worthy of attention", but not subject to burning. They were not recommended to be read, studied, published, used in teaching. Also, this time was famous for the fight against “immoral” literature, which included many masterpieces of Chinese classical literature, various works of folklore ... Well, they give with one hand, they take away with the other: the usual practice of sovereigns. (photo of Hongli's portrait)

In the Russian revolutionary year of 1905, the first public library in Hunan city.
The "great helmsman" Mao Zedong, as well as the last Chinese emperor Pu Yi - each at one time worked in the library field. In 1918, Mao Zedong took a job as an assistant librarian at the Peking University Library, where he worked under Li Dazhao, head librarian and prominent Chinese Marxist. The last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi, after serving time in a Chinese prison and being released in 1954, worked as an archivist at the Chinese National Library. The library as the alpha and omega of a political career.
As you can see, the Chinese library tradition is as old as the Middle Empire itself.
But let's leave the past to historians. Modern China is dynamism, speed, risky projects on the verge of the possible, dizzying scale. Deep roots allow abundant fruiting modern ideas. Libraries are by no means excluded from the realm of Chinese progress. Often they set the tone for design, technology and progressive approaches. In order not to be unfounded - I will give a few examples.
Guangzhou City Library (the third largest city in China) boasts with total area about 100,000 m2 and a collection that includes about 4 million books. Main Feature of this library is that it gives visitors direct access to shelves with 3.5 million books waiting to be read, making it the world's largest open public library. At the center of the building is an atrium that crosses the building from east to west. This atrium provides sunlight on each of the floors, and also serves as natural ventilation. (Photo by Guangzhou Library)




Architects in China have realized the concept of an unusual library in which hardly anything will distract visitors from a leisurely and focused acquaintance with books. The fact is that the Sanlian Public Library is located far from noisy highways and crowded streets, namely on a deserted sandy shore near the city of Qinhuangdao. Just a few meters from its walls is the sea - you can admire it from the windows of the reading room. The building, which has already earned the title of "China's loneliest library", has no roads leading to it - it can only be reached on foot. (Photo by Sanlian Library)

A certain urban and architectural curiosity, like a concrete mirage, appears in all its beautiful desolation the city of Ordos, the region of Inner Mongolia. In a city designed for 1 million inhabitants, with a fully formed infrastructure, at the moment there are no more than 30,000 people. The city library was also built for the theoretical number of inhabitants, but to this day it is only a ghost of an unfulfilled possibility. A library without readers, books and meaning. Visual proof that it is not the walls that make the library alive. (photo of the Ordos library)




Let's move on from mega-objects to more modest, but no less interesting projects.This hutong (traditional Chinese multi-house development) is located in quiet place one kilometer from Tiananmen Square in the center of Beijing. Residents - neighbors made a small library for their children at 9 square meters and space for play and creative self-realization. We tried to fit all the innovations into the existing environment as much as possible, because the houses around are about 300 years old. (photo of hutong library)





Japan.
We will begin our story about the libraries of Japan with a small digression. In front of you is a statue of Kinjiro, a 19th century boy from a remote village. A bundle of firewood is behind her shoulders, and a book is in her hands. Every student in the country rising sun knows that this boy read a lot and studied to be a respected learned man. As always in such stories, the facts of the biography are supplemented by romantic details of implicit eyewitnesses and distant descendants, but this does not make the fact worse.
There are a lot of sculptures of Kinjiro in Japan. This one stands in the center of Tokyo, near a bookstore: it subtly hints that any peasant boy can become respected, rich and famous if he reads (statue of Kinjiro)

The man who created the first library in Japan was Umayado no Oji,known as Prince Shotoku. Horuji Castle in Nara Province is considered oldest library in Japan. The time of foundation is the beginning of the 7th century AD. The prince also has the honor of being the first Japanese writer and show off on a bill of 10,000 yen. (photo of Prince Shitoku and Horuji Castle)



The National Library of Japan, Zushoryo, began its existence in 702 AD. She was responsible for the collection and preservation of Buddhist Confucian books, and also led official history states. In today's times, it was a kind of library and publishing complex, which included a large staff: 4 paper makers, 10 brush makers and 20 text copiers. Also, the library had its own charter, which stipulated the procedure for processing, storing, copying and issuing books. Unfortunately, in 833 many library buildings were destroyed by fire. Zushoryo functioned until the beginning of the 11th century, when another fire element completed the destruction.
Prior to the reign of the Togugawa shogunate, libraries in Japan were represented by monastic and private collections of samurai, sometimes quite extensive. For example, Kanazawa's samurai library in 1275 included about 7,000 manuscripts and 20,000 ancient books. (In the photo: the entrance to the Kanazawa Library)


Tokugawa Ieyasu, the first shogun of Japan from the Tokugawa family, ordered in 1601 to build a personal library on the territory of his castle in Edo, which was done. He personally searched for valuable books for his library, including in it all possible collections of books. In particular, Kanazawa's library was "merged" into Ieyasu's library. Private libraries have not lost their relevance either. For example, the private collection of the Japanese scholar Hayashi Razan (1583-1657) later became the core of the Tokyo Imperial University library.
During the Meiji Restoration (1868-1912), life accelerated and the process of modernization went by leaps and bounds. Such Japanese librarians as Tanaka Fujimaro began to develop a network of public libraries, focusing on the experience European countries which they received during their travels. In 1872 the first modern public libraries were built in Kyoto and Tokyo. Laws were passed that provided the legal and economic basis for the creation of libraries for informed citizens. Twenty years later, in 1892, the Japan Library Association was formed. The first journal of librarianship "Toshoran zasshi" was released in 1907. (photo by Tanaka Fujimaro)

Reign of Emperor Taishō (1912 - 1926) can be considered a library renaissance. Hundreds of local and regional libraries were built, thus laying the foundation for modern library system. Unfortunately, like any rise, it could not continue indefinitely: the beginning of the 2nd World War served as an impetus for the closure of many libraries, since the financial priorities of the state were directed to the military channel, and an independently thinking soldier is a potentially dangerous thing.
By 1990 Japan had about 44,700 libraries. including one national library (Japan Diet Library). 1,600 public libraries, 900 university libraries, 2,200 specialized libraries and 40,000 school libraries.
One of the most conceptually designed libraries in the world is the Hiroshima Children's Library. With its appearance, it resembles a stylized atomic mushroom, under which an atmosphere of calm and peace reigns. These photos were taken 10 years after the bombing. Adults thought about the future of children. As of today, this library has been dismantled. Perhaps the design was too radical and evoked unpleasant associations. (photo of the Hiroshima library).




One of the library attractions of Japan are small bunko (libraries). Like thousands of islands of reading, they are scattered throughout the prefectures, small and large settlements. These libraries are usually created on the initiative of the residents of the area when there is a need for such a place. There is a certain ephemeral quality to them - it can be created in a few weeks in the corner of a room, in an empty supermarket, in a temple, but it can just as easily disappear.
Similar bunkos are paid. They are not on the balance sheet of the state, but each user monthly gives a small amount for its maintenance, usually 1-2 dollars. Bunko are diverse: some work only one day a week, while others work seven days a week, they have at their disposal a fund of 100 to 10,000 books. These libraries are very individual, each of them has its own face, and you will never meet two libraries that are absolutely similar both in design and in the style of work.
The service and forms of work in the "bunko" are reminiscent of the children's departments of public libraries: lending books at home, reading aloud, discussing what they have read, puppet shows... Volunteer librarians usually work, 90% of whom are women. Most of these women are housewives or work part-time. Some bunko women are masters of storytelling.
Research has shown that the very first "bunko" appeared in 1906, and was created by the children's writer and librarian Kasui Takenuki. Bunko was opened at his home in Ioma, Tokyo. (photo of a small bunko)




One of the most beautiful, cozy and spacious libraries in the world - Library International University Akita, Japan. It was built in 2008 and its design resembles the Roman Colosseum. She has a few more distinguishing features that makes it unique: it operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year (only for students and faculty), for which it is called the “Sleepless Library” in Japan. However, any resident of Akita can visit this library, except for nights, weekends and public holidays. Second design. The structure is made of natural material Japanese cedar and according to appearance resembles a traditional Japanese umbrella. The light smell of cedar, which is invisibly present in the air, relaxes and sets a person in a calm mood. Teaching does not tolerate fuss.
Akita Library organically combines ancient traditions and advanced technologies. To date, its funds are about 75,000 books and more than 200 newspapers. Books on foreign languages make up about 60 percent of the fund: it is useful for foreign students, as well as for the Japanese students themselves, specializing in any language. (Akita library photo)

P.S.
According to the testimony of A. Meshcheryakov, an excellent modern Japanese specialist, which he voiced at the meeting “Natural Disasters and the Formation of the Japanese Character”, in the technically advanced Land of the Rising Sun, paper books have by no means gone out of use, and modern readers have not become as widespread as in European countries. and America. In his opinion, this happened because Japan has a different, deeper and more sacred attitude towards paper than we do. For a European, paper is a writing utensil, a book, at most - a means of hygiene. For the Japanese, this is paper walls houses, and clothes, and traditional partitions, and fans, as well as dozens and hundreds of other things and household items. The culture of communication with paper is immeasurably deeper and more ancient; it permeates the life of generations of the Japanese. And for them to refuse a paper book is outside the framework of culture. From myself, I would also add my thoughts: in Japanese etiquette, tactility fades into the background. Bows, gestures, closed ceremonial etiquette. In this case, the paper in general and paper book in particular, it acts as a kind of intermediary between people, silent, correct and warm.

Korea
The Land of Morning Calm also has a long library history. The first royal library was founded by the ruler of the state of Silla, named Sin Mun in 682 AD.After the unification of Korea under the auspices of the Goryeo dynasty (918-1392), important prerequisites were formed for the growth of libraries. National politics was aimed at increasing the royal library, and the national archive also began its work. In the same way, monastic libraries traditionally developed with Buddhist texts and private book collections. The Mongol invasions of the 13th century CE gave rise to the practice of duplicating and rewriting texts so that books would be better preserved during foreign invasions.
Speaking about the libraries of Korea, it is impossible not to mention the Tripitaka Koreana, which contains 81,340 thousand wooden cliche boards carved from 1236 to 1251 and preserved to this day in the Haeinsa monastery. Each wooden tablet is 70 centimeters wide and 24 centimeters long and varies in thickness from 2.6 to 4 centimeters. The weight of one plate is from three to four kilograms. So that the boards do not warp and rot, they were subjected to special treatment: the logs were first kept for three years in sea ​​water, then sawn into blocks, boiled in salt water and dried in the air in the shade. Dried boards were planed and marked with text for cutting. They contain almost 52.4 million elegant hieroglyphic instructions for monks, conversations with the Buddha and comments on the sutras. And although about 30 scribes participated in this work, all the hieroglyphs look like they were written by one hand. (pictured is Haeins Temple and Tripitaka Koreana)

An important milestone in librarianship was the invention in l446 of a new Korean alphabet, Hangul. Sejong the Great, the ruler of the state of Goryeo, together with a group of scholars presented a simple script as a gift to his people, instead of complex ones. Chinese characters. The most famous and only surviving royal library of the Joseon Dynasty - Gye-Jang-Gag, founded in 1776. The logical structure of the library was represented by four broad sections: classic literature, history, philosophy and general knowledge. (library photo)


The prototype of modern public libraries were the libraries of the Japanese who lived in Korea at the beginning of the 20th century. However, after the colonization of Korea by the Japanese in 1910, the development of public libraries slowed down. This was due to the fact that a restriction was introduced on the use of the Korean language and script. All publications in Korean were also banned, especially reference and scientific publications.
After the end of World War II, followed by the Korean War in 1953, the history of librarianship on the Korean peninsula was divided along political lines along the 38th parallel. How things stand with libraries in the Juche country is an open question. In any case, they are there for sure. As for capitalist Korea, the information is available in the public domain. In order not to tire readers unnecessarily with the achievements of Korean colleagues, let's turn to dry statistics and compare the figures for 2001 and 2010. The number of public libraries has increased from 436 to 746, school libraries - from 8.101 to 10.937. The number of small libraries has increased from 130 to 3.324! Libraries can be found on the streets, in the subways, in parks...everywhere!
For example, a library recently opened in Seoul that specializes in travel books and maps. On the ground floor there is a themed cafe where visitors can go on a journey with the heroes of their favorite book with a cup of something to their taste. On the second floor - a secluded space for lovers of reading. One of distinctive features of this library are chairs dissimilar to each other, which symbolize cultural differences in different countries peace. Unfortunately, only Hyundai Card holders can use the services of this establishment. (travel library photo)






Small and cozy libraries that have been set up different forms and sizes. Some of them don't even have staff, all service is based on a culture of reader honesty. These literature access points also have access to the databases of the country's libraries, since the speed and availability of the Internet in South Korea is one of the best in the world. Seoul City Hall plans to increase the number of libraries located in or near residential areas to 1,372 by 2030.(photo of small libraries)

In this article, dear reader, only the most general information about the history and current state of library art in the countries described above. The thousand-year-old world of libraries is inexhaustible, it keeps many secrets, mysteries and obvious clues for the future. We just looked at the covers of library volumes in China, Japan and Korea. Magazine "Librarianship" 5, 2017 also brings to your attention an article about children's libraries in Japan.
You can write about your comments and wishes to:arslonga2@ mail. en or on the Facebook page of Germantsev Stanislav. Links to sources are given in the journal "Modern Library".

The National Library of China is the largest library in China. The library was founded in 1909 as the "Metropolitan Teachers' Library" in agreement with the throne and the government of the last Chinese Qing Dynasty. After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, the "Capital Teachers' Chambers" was renamed Peking University, and the library was transferred to the Ministry of Education in August 1912 and opened to visitors. In 1916, it was entrusted with the functions of the main library of the country. In 1928 the library received the status of the National Library. In December 1998 State Council approved the change of the name of the library to "Zhongguo guojia thushuguan" (National Library of China). In accordance with the Press Law of 1930, the National Library began to register Chinese printed matter, and a special building was built for it a year later. By the time of the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the library held at least one and a half million documents.

Current state. The National Library of China is a comprehensive scientific library, a national publication repository, a national bibliographic center, a national library information and science and technology library network center and a development center.

The total area of ​​the library covers 170,000 square meters, ranking fifth among the world's libraries. By the end of 2003, the library had a rich collection of 24.1100.000 volumes, and also ranked fifth among the libraries of the world. There were 270,000 volumes in the collection rare books, 1,600,000 volumes of ancient books. As of 2010, the library is housed in three buildings. The main building was completed in 1987. The old building was built in 1931 and was the main building until 1987, now it houses the NLC Ancient Book Library. On September 9, 2008, a new building was put into operation to the north of the Main Building, which has been under construction since 2003 (the authors of the project are Michael Zimmerman, Jurgen Engel). With a total area of ​​more than 80.5 thousand square meters, about 8 thousand readers can be served simultaneously in the new building. Now, together with the new building, the total area of ​​the library is 250,000 square meters. It is only surpassed by the National Libraries of France and the United States. The main building is also called the National Library of China South Area (NLC South Area) and the new building is the National Library of China North Area (NLC North Area).

The library not only has the largest collection Chinese books in the world, but also the largest collection of materials in foreign languages ​​in the country. The library is open to the public 365 days a year, and online services are available 24 hours a day through various means of communication.

The Liaoning Provincial Library is the largest library in Liaoning Province and one of the largest in the Northeast of China. Located in Shenyang, Nanta District. Liaoning Provincial Library - government agency organized at the provincial level, a comprehensive public library.

History of creation. The history of the Liaoning Provincial Library goes back to the PRC Northeast Library, which was established in 1947. On August 15, 1948, it was opened in Harbin (Heilongjiang Province), and in February 1949 it moved to Shenyang.

Changed its name to Liaoning Provincial Library in 1955. It was founded directly by the leadership of the CCP as a "major public library." In 1989, she moved to a new building, the area of ​​buildings and structures is 33 thousand m2.

Current state and activity. Since the end of 1997, reconstruction began, and on August 15, 1998, it officially opened to readers. Over the past 50 years, the library has continuously evolved as a comprehensive public institution. The current collection contains more than 4 million volumes, in more than 10 languages.

Takes part in interlibrary exchange programs with 16 states and territories. The library contains ancient manuscripts (about 560 thousand), especially valuable are the editions of the era of the Song and Yuan dynasties (more than a hundred volumes). Since the library is located in the Northeast of China, it has a unique collection of Manchu documents relating to the Qing Dynasty.

Total service personnel- 260 people. Specialized Departments of the Library - Department of Collection, Subscription and Editing, Department of Reception and Loan, Department of Rare Books and Manuscripts, Department of Periodicals, Department of Information and Consulting, Center electronic publications and Internet, Research Department, etc. The number of seats in the reading rooms is about 1100. In total, the library has 28 reading rooms and specialized auditoriums. The number of visits per day is about 3000 person-times.

Over the past few years, the work of the library team has been invariably celebrated at the level of the party committee, the government of Liaoning province and the leadership of various ministries and departments.

Digital library. Since 1997, the library began work on the creation electronic library, the internal network has been completed, and there is access to Chinanet and the Internet, as well as electronic databases. There is an electronic reading room for periodicals. This makes the part information materials libraries available over the web. In addition, work continues to create its own book depository for the convenience of readers.

Interesting Facts. On the first floor of the library there is an exposition of pieces of furniture that previously belonged to Zhang Xueliang.

Siku Quanshu. The complete collection of books in four sections is a large-scale publishing endeavor in Chinese history. Includes a huge number of Chinese texts, divided into four sections - "Classics" (Chinese literary canon), "History" (historical and geographical treatises), "Masters" (philosophy, art, science), "Collections" (anthologies of Chinese literature) .

The initiator of the creation of the Qing imperial library is Qianlong, who in 1773 instructed 361 scholars to sort out "10,000 books" on Chinese in order to identify and destroy anti-Manchurian texts, and include the rest in his personal library. It was a project designed to surpass the compilation of the legendary Yongle Encyclopedia in its scope.

When the work came to an end in 1782, the Complete Books contained 36,381 volumes, approximately 2,300,000 pages and 800 million characters. Qianlong commissioned 3,826 scribes to create four copies of the book collection for the imperial libraries in the Forbidden City, the Old Summer Palace, Mukden Palace, Mountain Haven, and three more for public libraries in Hangzhou, Zhenjiang, and Yangzhou. Above " Complete collection”, for each library a copy of the imperial encyclopedia of 1725 was made.

Two copies of the Complete Collection were lost during the Taiping Rebellion, another was almost completely burned down during the Second Opium War, and the remaining four were damaged during World War II. The most complete copy of the Siku Quanshu has been preserved in the Forbidden Palace. In 1980, photocopies of it were published in 1500 volumes (currently available on CD-ROM).

The Shanghai Library is the second largest library in China (after the National Library in Beijing). It is located in Shanghai, in a 24-storey building with a height of 106 meters. It is believed to be the tallest library building in the world. The building itself resembles a tower in shape and looks like a giant lighthouse. The library is located on an area of ​​3.1 hectares, and the total area of ​​buildings is 85 thousand m2.

Foundation history. The first library was built in Shanghai in 1847. The library got its first name from the Jesuit mission of Xu Jiahui. In 1925, the Chinese themselves opened the first library, the Shanghai Oriental Library. In 1950, the board of the committee for cultural heritage Shanghai initiated a book collection campaign. A year later, more than 200 thousand books were collected. Many Chinese scholars have made a great contribution to the reconstruction of the Shanghai Library. The committee also began to purchase books from abroad.

Reorganization. The first public municipal library was founded in Shanghai on June 22, 1952. The library funds numbered more than 700 thousand books. In October 1956, the Shanghai Library was merged with the Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Library, the Shanghai Municipal Library historical documents and the Shanghai Periodical Press Library. Thus, the Shanghai Library has become the second largest public library in China in terms of collections, service and professional expertise.

Current state. In October 1995, the Shanghai Library was merged with the Shanghai Institute of Scientific and Technical Information. It became the first library in China to bring together public resources and high tech(SciTech), allowing you to perform Scientific research in the information field.

At present, the Shanghai Library is the largest public library in China and one of the ten largest libraries in the world. It opened on December 20, 1996.

The largest library in China.

The library was founded in 1909 as the "Metropolitan Teachers' Library" in agreement with the throne and the government of the last Chinese Qing Dynasty. After the Xinhai Revolution of 1911, the "Capital Teachers' Chambers" was renamed Peking University, and the library was transferred to the Ministry of Education in August 1912 and opened to visitors. In 1916, it was entrusted with the functions of the main library of the country. In 1928 the library received the status of the National Library.

In December 1998, the State Council approved the change of the library's name to Zhongguo Guojia Tushuguan (National Library of China). In accordance with the Press Law of 1930, the National Library began to register Chinese printed matter, and a special building was built for it a year later. By the time of the proclamation of the People's Republic of China, the library held at least one and a half million documents.

The National Library of China is a comprehensive scientific library, a national publication repository, a national bibliographic center, a national library information and science and technology library network center and a development center. The total area of ​​the library covers 170,000 square meters, ranking fifth among the world's libraries. By the end of 2003, the library had a rich collection of 24,1100,000 volumes, and also ranked fifth among the libraries in the world. The collection included 270,000 volumes of rare books, 1,600,000 volumes of ancient books.

For 2010 the library is housed in three buildings. The main building was completed in 1987. The old building was built in 1931 and was the main building until 1987, now it houses the department of ancient books of the library. On September 9, 2008, a new building was put into operation to the north of the Main Building, which has been under construction since 2003 (the authors of the project are Michael Zimmerman, Jurgen Engel). With a total area of ​​more than 80.5 thousand square meters, about 8 thousand readers can be served simultaneously in the new building. Now, together with the new building, the total area of ​​the library is 250,000 square meters. It is only surpassed by the National Libraries of France and the United States. The main building is also called "National Library of China South" and the new building is "North of National Library of China".

The library not only has the largest collection of Chinese books in the world, but also the largest collection of foreign language materials in the country. The library is open to the public 365 days a year, and online services are available 24 hours a day through various means of communication.

National Library of China in Beijing May 18th, 2011

Three years ago, my friend and I were forced to visit the Lenin Library. We needed literally 4 books there, not too old. In general, nothing special. However, in the end, getting not four, but one book (and which, as it turned out, we didn’t need) was spent 6 hours of our most precious lives. It is impossible to imagine a more stupid, useless and merciless system for obtaining books. We have never heard of the digitization of catalogs, let alone books in our libraries. Each innovation, such an impression, requires such complex manipulations that it seems much easier to do nothing than to do at least something for the convenience of visitors. In general, the visit left us perplexed as to the uselessness of such a huge building filled with books.
Arriving in Beijing, I remembered this story from the library. I knew that the Chinese had built a new building for their state library. The desire to visit it was great, especially since I knew about the free access of any visitors there, even if you don’t want to read or take anything there, or if you don’t have any access cards and other things.

The building was designed by the German bureau KSP Jürgen Engel Architekten. the main objective construction - expansion of the library. The National Library already has two buildings very close, there was not enough space. For this, they invited smart and knowledgeable people from the West and did not gouge them with local norms, supposedly lack of money, supposedly useless use of internal space, but simply took it and let them design a building for people - beautiful, functional and very effective.

The building is rather large - 77,000 square meters, holds 12 million books and is designed for 12,000 people a day

Facades of the side wings

and closer. The design is as follows - a steel frame is put on a completely glass wall, on which, in turn, large and massive stone (at least in appearance) beams are attached. Great sun protection plus beauty

Special entrance for the disabled. It is just below the main one, which is 2 levels higher.

Main entrance - above the ground

Inside meets a huge glass wall with a view of the entire central space of the building - wildly beautiful.

To the left of the entrance is a staircase. The coolest thing about it is that it's all glass. Impressive solutions at every turn.

Metal railings only. Everything else is glass. It's just dumb

As with the airport station, every detail is beautiful.

The staircase is illuminated through a lantern in the roof. The rest of the library space is the same. Simple, beautiful, convenient and ingenious.

The central volume is again a shock. How can we explain to our developers that atriums and huge spaces inside the building are cool? It remains only to send them to Beijing to suck their paw with their business centers and office plazas. Yes, it's expensive. Yes, it's difficult. But after all, it is necessary to do something for people, and not just for the dough?

The space is covered with huge farms. It's simple

By the way, the building is functionally divided by floors. The lower floors - books, manuscripts; here people pick up printed materials and sit and read it. Above - a multimedia library, sit on your computer and see what you need, catalogs, books, ancient manuscripts - everything is on your computer.
So the architects wanted to show the close connection between the future, the present and the past. In China, this connection is quite strong, traditional motifs are found in many areas of life, but most noticeably in architecture.

Side facade

I guess there should be water, but something didn't work out.

In general, the National Library of China say hello to Leninka. With a paper catalog the size of a football field and book distribution within half a day.

Photo reports

Professional trip to China "BIBLIOTOUR2011"
Beijing Xi'an Nanjing Suzhou Hangzhou Shanghai (China), March 517, 2011

In March of this year, five employees of the Russian State Library for Youth, together with their Moscow colleagues, took part in a professional trip to China "BIBLIOTOUR2011" at the initiative of Ukrainian librarians. The organizer was the Ukrainian Library Association with the support of the Russian Library Association. The travel route ran through six cities: Beijing Xi'an Nanjing Suzhou Hangzhou Shanghai. The professional program included visits to four different types of libraries: the National Library of China (Beijing), the Main Library of Shanxi Province (Xi'an), the Library of the University of Science and Technology (Xi'an) and the Shanghai City Library.

There are a lot of impressions for eleven days of stay both about the country and about libraries, let's try to highlight the main thing.

Libraries in China are modern multifunctional intellectual and cultural centers with unusual architecture, spacious bright rooms and open access to funds. Huge buildings that command reverence and admiration, sometimes with several buildings, are magnificent. The thought immediately comes: “How knowledge and libraries are valued here!”. The most comfortable conditions for productive work and leisure have been created for employees and readers. Traditional paper media are intelligently combined with digital technologies. Chinese libraries are distinguished a large number of readers and the calm, unfussy work of a few staff. The support of the state is felt in everything, understanding of the importance of the library as an important public institution. In China, the prestige of education is high, and the library is perceived as an obligatory link in the system of education and training.

IN National Library the largest in Asia with a collection of 28 million books, its repository of Chinese literature ranks first in the world in terms of the number of publications. This is a majestic architectural ensemble of Beijing with an area of ​​more than 250 thousand square meters. m., located next to the beautiful Purple Bamboo Park. More than 5 million readers a year, 1012 thousand daily serve 47 halls of the library. The library is open to the public 365 days a year, online services are available 24 hours a day through various means of communication.

The provincial capital of Shanxi is Xi'an, main library(an analogue of the Russian regional / regional scientific library) is located in a beautiful elegant building with a total area of ​​more than 40 thousand square meters. m. and is designed for 2000 seats. The library is visited daily by 67 thousand people (more than 2 million per year), mostly young people. All services are free for registered users, with the exception of resource-intensive ones. The network of branches and bibliobuses for remote areas of the province functions effectively.

The library of the University of Science and Technology in Xi'an, one of the top five universities in China, is the dominant feature of the entire university complex. The university has four campuses, it also includes 9 schools, 23 departments, special class for gifted students, experimental class, etc. The library has a collection of over 1.73 million books. A single computer network operates throughout the university, many library services are available around the clock in virtual mode.

The final destination was the city of Shanghai. Famous at home and abroad Shanghai city ​​Library The largest in China at the level of provinces and central cities. After merging with the Shanghai Institute of Scientific and Technical Information in 1995, it became the country's first provincial-level bibliographic and information complex. Document fund 50 million items (including newspapers and magazines) located on the 21st floor of the book depository. The waiting time for the requested publication takes only 1020 minutes due to the high-tech equipment of the library and the efficiency of the staff. More than 10 thousand people visit the library daily, mostly young people.

An excellent addition to professional program became excursions to the Winter and Summer imperial palaces, the majestic Temple of Heaven Tian Tan, the Temple of Refuge of the Soul, the Shanghai City History Museum, the Terracotta Army Museum and the Shanxi Provincial Museum. Managed to climb the Great Chinese wall, climb the TV tower "Pearl of the East" and admire the city of skyscrapers of Shanghai from above, ride unusual boats on the picturesque Xihu Lake and the Huangpu River. We also visited circus performance and historical show. Particularly impressive were the landscaped Chinese gardens, harmoniously combining stones, water and lush vegetation.

A rich program of stay made it possible to get an idea of ​​the diverse cultural life Celestial, about the scale of the state's plans for the transformation of cities, the construction of skyscrapers, about joining the nation to the achievements of world culture. We are grateful to G.A. Saprykin, director of the State Library of Ukraine for Youth, who inspired us to this trip, which opened to us a great rapidly developing, future-oriented country in everything, including librarianship.

Marina Zakharenko,
deputy director for professional and public relations Russian State Library for Youth