At its 2014 World Library and Information Congress in Lyon, France, the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions launched a worldwide project on the theme of “1001 libraries to see before you die.” Here in Taiwan, in connection with this project, the Library Association of the Republic of China organized an online voting activity in which netizens selected a list of the top ten must-see libraries in Taiwan. Participants chose their favorites from a list of 68 libraries around the country in voting that began on June 10 and continued until September 30. Voters were allowed to cast ballots for three different libraries, with the top ten vote-getters allowed to represent Taiwan in applying for inclusion on the international list of libraries to see before you die.
The enlarged Kaohsiung City, which was formed through the 2010 merger of the original Kaohsiung City with Kaohsiung County, has vigorously promoted reading since the merger, and four of its libraries made the top ten. One of these is the Kaohsiung Main Public Library, and the other three (Dadong Arts Library, the Xiaogang Branch Library, and the Kaohsiung Literary Museum) are all sub-entities under the KMPL.
The main building of the New Taipei City Library, which opened to the public less than a year ago, finished third in the voting on the strength of its innovative spatial design and 24-hour service. In the future, this successful undertaking promises to spur further innovation by public libraries in the way these organizations are run. The most surprising presence on the top ten list, at number two, was the Library of Chinese Dietary Culture, whose holdings come to fewer than 30,000 volumes.
The National Central Library, with its huge holdings, took fifth spot, while the rest of the list was rounded out by Minxiong branch of Chiayi County Public Library, Luking Library at Providence University, and the Library and Information Center at National Taitung University. Contrary to all expectations, the Taipei Public Library Beitou Branch failed to make the top ten despite its great fame, which even extends abroad.
KMPL is No. 1
KMPL finished at the top in the voting for must-see libraries, with over 520,000 votes.
“More than just a place to pick up knowledge, a library must also be a pleasant place to spend time.” According to KMPL director Pan Cheng-yi, now that it has become so easy to look up information online, the pleasure of plunking oneself down in a reading environment is the key reason why people still visit libraries.
To create a reading-friendly environment, in 2010 the Kaohsiung City Government invited architects from around the world to take part in an international competition to select a design for a new main library. The guiding principle of the design was “a library with trees, and trees with a library.” This approach yielded a building, eventually completed in 2014, that is comfortable even in the hot southern metropolis of Kaohsiung.
In addition to architectural innovation, KMPL also has many books that are not to be found anywhere else. The fourth floor of KMPL, for example, houses a special section that brings together both new and old publications from around the world focusing specifically on Kaohsiung. In addition, special display cases for “key publications” are used to display selections from the library’s collection of some 600 classic Chinese-language works from throughout the ages. Every item put on display is either a first-edition copy or out of print, offering book lovers a first-hand look at Chinese classics in their original form.
KMPL has undertaken many innovations, held all sorts of reading activities, and organized lectures by noted persons. These approaches have made KMPL a new landmark for Kaohsiung, and the epicenter of an expanding wave of enthusiasm for reading in the city.
Library of Chinese Dietary Culture
In stark contrast to the stunning architecture at KMPL, the Library of Chinese Dietary Culture (LCDC) has been tucked unobtrusively away for the past 40 years in the basement of an office building in bustling downtown Taipei. Specializing in recipes and various publications that have to do with Chinese cuisine, the library has over 20,000 volumes in its holdings and ranks as the most complete collection of Chinese culinary publications anywhere.
May Chang, CEO of the Foundation of Chinese Dietary Culture, notes that LCDC is the only specialized library to make the must-see list, despite its small size and the small number of books. Many of the books in its collection cannot even be found at the National Central Library, so LCDC is uniquely irreplaceable.
Chang picks out a volume from a set of finely bound books with the title Qing Court Cuisine emblazoned on them. These books cannot be bought or even borrowed in Taiwan, but a famed restaurant was allowed to borrow them for all of 2014 for an overseas exhibit. She also points to a very interesting menu showing the dishes served at a banquet modeled after feasts described in The Legend of the Condor Heroes, a much-loved martial arts novel by Louis Cha. This banquet was served at the end of a 1998 conference in Hong Kong that focused on Cha’s martial arts novels. The hotel where the conference was held hired a top chef to design the banquet based on the novel, and the menu is even signed by the famed author himself!
While large libraries are moving toward modern, high-tech services, LCDC can offer an especially intimate interaction precisely because it is small and most visitors are specialists from either academia or the food and beverage industry.
“Hey, what are you wanting to borrow today?” “Long time no see! How’s business?” Greetings like these are extremely unlikely at most libraries, but Chang says they’re quite commonplace at LCDC: “We probably know half of the visitors who come in here. Sometimes we know as soon as they walk in the door what they want.”
While big libraries compete to see who can come up with the fanciest buildings and designs, LCDC has relied on its specialized holdings and a warm, personal touch to become the “small, pure, and fresh” one (as the recent buzz phrase goes) on the scene. Hence its strong appeal to netizens in the voting.
Reading is what it’s all about
Less than a year after its opening, the main building of the New Taipei City Library has already become a magnet for people in the Greater Taipei area. Crowds throng there on weekends, and thus it finished third in the voting.
Library director Tang Lian-cheng states: “We built this place with the visitor in mind. We want to be more than just someplace to go to get out of the house; we want people to come here with the idea of staying a while.” Since the very beginning, he says, NTC Main Library has sought to create a space that is user-friendly and convenient, and that is why it is so popular with the public.
NTC Main Library is the first library in Taiwan to incorporate “universal design.” It employs all kinds of ingenious design elements to meet the needs of people of different ages and physical capabilities. Examples include wider spacing between book racks (which enables wheelchair users to get in and out without blocking other users’ way) and slightly higher tables (which can be used by wheelchair users).
In addition, the 24-hour borrowing and return service (a first in Taiwan) at NTC Main Library is a great convenience to users. A user unable to come to the library to check out a book during office hours can visit the library’s website, reserve a particular book, and indicate when he/she will pick it up. The book will then be placed in an automated system that will allow the user to come and pick up the book outside the library entrance at any time. And even if one does not reserve a book, the library also makes several hundred selected books available for users to borrow at any time. These systems have made it much easier to borrow and return books.
Innovations at NTC Main Library represent firsts for Taiwan on multiple fronts. The result is a new-generation facility where visitors are happy to linger.
Making libraries cool
Despite today’s tough economic times, local governments are spending considerable sums on new libraries. First it was Kaohsiung and New Taipei City, and now Taichung and Taoyuan are doing likewise. But if, in building new libraries, we simply pursue green architecture standards and newfangled design features, but forget that the reading experience is at the heart of a library’s existence, then we may end up with flashy but imitative structures that miss the essential point of what a library is all about.
The selection of Taiwan’s top ten must-see libraries has shown that a well-conceived library—whether run by a local government, a university, or a private entity—can provide a good reading environment and capture people’s fancy. And in the end, this is what library will have to do if it is going to score a hit with the public.
Visitors to the new KMPL find its display of the latest publications better looking than those of commercial bookstores.
Special display cases for “key publications” in the KMPL hold theme-based selections of works from throughout the ages. Most of the items put on display are unique first editions or out-of-print works.
Reading in a library under natural light is a pleasure hard to come by in the urban jungle, but not in Kaohsiung.
The Library of Chinese Dietary Culture is the only private entity—and the only specialized library—to make the list of Taiwan’s top ten must-see libraries. It houses a large collection of cookbooks, menus, and assorted books and periodicals related to Chinese cuisine.
The Library of Chinese Dietary Culture is the only private entity—and the only specialized library—to make the list of Taiwan’s top ten must-see libraries. It houses a large collection of cookbooks, menus, and assorted books and periodicals related to Chinese cuisine.
Qing Court Cuisine provides an account of daily fare at the Qing court. The Library of Chinese Dietary Culture holds the only copies of this set of books to be found in Taiwan. Equally unique is a menu, signed by Louis Cha, of a banquet with dishes modeled after feasts described in his The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
Qing Court Cuisine provides an account of daily fare at the Qing court. The Library of Chinese Dietary Culture holds the only copies of this set of books to be found in Taiwan. Equally unique is a menu, signed by Louis Cha, of a banquet with dishes modeled after feasts described in his The Legend of the Condor Heroes.
The adoption of universal design makes libraries more accessible to people with special needs. Shelves are installed at an incline, and despite a reduced number of lighting fixtures, illumination is better and libraries have an airier feeling than with more conventional designs. The photo shows the main building of the New Taipei City Library.
Different reading areas in the main NTC Library are tailored to meet the needs of different types of readers, depending on age and other factors. The chairs and tables in the family area, for example, are lower and have cushioned strips to protect children from collisions.
Pioneering in serving 24 hours a day, the NTC Library loses no lustre even as the night creeps in. The protruding compartments on the walls of the library are dedicated rooms for a “slow reading” experience.
Even as they move toward increasingly fancy architecture, libraries must not lose track of their prime mission—to provide the public with a place to read.
