A heaven for all bookworms
Print Edition
THE annual Changning Reading Festival is underway and will run through October. One of the highlights is a series of seminars at the Changning Library at weekends. Experts from all trades will interact with readers on popular topics during the events.
Reading activities will include 100 good books to read, 1,000 students reciting classics and 10,000 readers sharing their experiences.
An audition for best books runs from March to October to create a reading atmosphere around the district. Best books and programs will be unveiled at the end of the year.
At the intersection of Tianshan Road and Tianzhong Road a kiosk built by the library serves readers all day long. The unstaffed kiosk has hundreds of books at present.
No reader card or deposit is required. There is no expiry date. The only rule here is to borrow one book at a time and return it to the kiosk. People may also freely exchange their own books through the kiosk. What they need to do is put their own books in the kiosk or take away any of the books they like.
‘Library Anywhere’
Changning Library has also established a 24-hour reading room on its first floor. The 100-square-meter room, with two desks and eight chairs, allows visitors to check in with their reader cards. Its entry is at the north gate. A book-lending terminal helps readers borrow and return books themselves.
The Changning Library will install 25 digital book lending machines at local apartment buildings and office complexes for the promotion of digital reading campaign “Library Anywhere.”
Users, with their identities verified, can read digital books for free through the service.
“We expect to lend 3,000 new e-books to our readers every year,” said Tang Xiaofeng, head of the library.
Located just steps away from the Changning Library, Tianshan Middle School has rolled out a number of new reading initiatives.
In the lobby of No. 4 building in the school, there is an automated bookshelf. Two meters tall and one meter wide, the four-layer machine usually stocks around 80 books. Most of them are classic works or about literature and science.
Each student can insert his or her ID card to takeout up to three books at a time.
The machine keeps track of books on its shelves, as well as those taken out and those returned.
“Through data collection on the back-end platform we can learn which books are popular among students,” said a teacher with the school’s information office.
School authorities decided to install an automated bookshelf on each floor of the teaching building and opened a “sunshine space” rest area at the same time. These specific areas are equipped with illumination systems that make it easier for students to read there.
“We also encouraged students to join our book exchange plan and share their own books with others,” said Chen Hong, headmaster of the school.
Almost the same time, Changning Children’s Library has launched parenting activities, training courses and classic reading seminars for young readers since April 22.
‘Culture + Travel’
Moreover, Changning combines reading with its abundant history resources. The “Culture + Travel” series to be held next month will focus on historic areas in the district and stories behind.
Reading is deeply rooted in Changning and the district never lacks high level facilities even at the grassroots. The Tianshan Community Library at 122 Tianshan No. 4 New Village has served locals for more than three decades.
Covering almost 900 square meters, the charming place keeps more than 60,000 books and over 200 newspapers and magazines.
Its collection features travel guides, maps, dictionaries, design, commercial and technical works as well as 11,000 children’s books. Four rooms on the second floor are for young readers.
The library hosts seminars regularly and screens documentaries three days a week. It also shows animated films to teenagers during summer holiday. Two readers’ clubs hold their activities at the library and published their own magazines.
It was last year that the Library Society of China honored the Tianshan Community Library as the most beautiful facility of its kind in the country.
Changning is also home to very nice bookstores. The second outlet of Baixin Bookstore is now open at Bingo Plaza. The 800-square-meter store is full of the fragrance of books.
There is nothing on the first floor but walls of books everywhere. The Poetic Loft on the second floor is a big terrace with comfortable sofas and heart-warming poems which enables a getaway on a sunny afternoon with a cup of tea or coffee.
The parenting room offers children a fairyland to enjoy reading together with their parents. The colorful bookshelves and seats here are tailored for kids to fit their sizes. Painted walls create an interesting reading environment for the little ones and help them develop reading as a lifelong habit.
A counter selling all sorts of notepads is also available at the store since the pocket tool for notes taking on the run has become a culture icon among the young people.
A long table, a projector and a podium beside the counter make it possible for notepad lovers to meet face to face and share experiences with others during their offline activities.
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