The National Library of China in Brief

  The National Library of China is situated in the West of Beijing. Its predecessor was the Capital Library established in 1909. In 1916 the Library started accepting the legal deposit copies of the national publications. In 1928 the Library got name of the National Beiping Library. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Library was renamed Beijing Library. From 1987 the name, National Library of China, has been used in the communication and cooperation with the libraries of other countries. In December 1998, the State Council approved that the Chinese name of the Library is changed to Zhong Guo Guo Jia Tu Shu Guan (the National Library of China). The National Library of China is a comprehensive research library, a national repository of the home publications, a national bibliographic center, a national center of library information networks, and the library research and development center. The Library serves for central legislature, government, key research institutions, academy, education, business and the general public. The Library is responsible for implementing the official cultural agreements and conducts communication and cooperation with the libraries both at home and abroad. The Library has the total floor area of 170,000 square meters, ranking fifth among the world libraries. By the end of 2003, the Library has a rich collection of 24,1100,000 volumes/items, also ranking fifth among the libraries of the world. In the collection there are 270,000 volumes of rare books, 1,600,000 volumes of general ancient books, 35,000 pieces of the scripted turtle shells and animal bones. The Library not only has the largest collection of Chinese books in the world, but also the biggest collection of materials in foreign languages in the country. It has a strong collection in those materials, such as manuscripts of the notables, revolutionary historical materials, Chinese doctoral dissertations, the UN publications and the increased number of e-publications. The Library opens to the public 365 days a year and its on-line services are available 24 hours a day via its linkage with various multimedia networks and on Internet.