Library Hours:
The newly built Jinzhou Municipal Public Library (JMPL) is a 15,000 square-meter compound located in Songshan New District. With a construction area of 13,000 square-meter and total investment of over RMB 45 million, the new library was delivered in February 2006, and opened to the public three months later. The new structure is an archetypal modernist building with smart designs and a unique physical appearance that resonates with the culture of contemporary public libraries. Interior decoration features solemnity, simplicity and brightness. Up-to-date technologies and equipment applied include central air-conditioning, advanced fire and safety alarm system, and hi-fi audio-visual system. JMPL has three sections, namely reader service section, administration section, and collections section. The reader service section that covers from the first to the third floor consists of 10 reading rooms and several loaning offices. The general service desk at the entrance hall provides easy loaning and returning services. In addition, the library also runs a training base, which is equipped with advanced teaching facilities, a computer center, a consultation center, an exhibition hall, and large- and medium-sized multi-functional halls for academic presentations, cultural events and entertainment activities. Administration is located on the fourth floor. And the fifth floor is the area for library collections. The advanced computer management system provides more than 400 Internet access points through efficient routing of optic fiber cables, and allows easy and flexible Internet configurations. Automated management is a multi-functional system that is available for interviews, cataloguing, public information searching, publication management, circulation, reader service, database generation and management, resource searching, and Internet service. Visitors can search for collections, and reserve and renew books online through JMPL website. Transmitted through satellite receptors, a large number of databases from information sharing projects are now readily accessible. To renew its traditional mission of disseminating knowledge to the general public, JMPL has extended services by opening a classics research and reading room, an antique (thread bound) books reading room, a foreign language books reading room, a multi-media electronic reading room, an audio-visual room, a self-study room, as well as a fast food restaurant and a café. Completion of the JMPL reconstruction project is a municipal endeavor to deliver tangible benefits to the citizens. The new library has played an indispensible role in developing the city’s cultural profile, and in coordinating cultural, economic and social development. |
