Huainan Children's Library

Huainan Children's Library

Huainan Children's Library serves as a patriotic education base.

Established in October 1986, Huainan Children's Library is the first independent children’s library in Anhui Province and a fully funded public institution under the Huainan Municipal Bureau of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism. The library building is located at No. 112, Huai Bin Road, Tianjia’an District, on the north side of the scenic and beautiful Longhu Park, integrating picturesque surroundings with a strong cultural ambiance, covering a total area of 2,000 square meters.

The library currently houses approximately 60,000 books and over 200 types of newspapers and magazines, and is part of the National Cultural Information Resources Sharing Project. The children’s library includes departments such as the lending section, reading rooms, an electronic literature room, a junior reading room, a multifunctional activity hall, a recording and broadcasting classroom, and a children’s Peking Opera school among other distinctive facilities. On average, it receives about 150,000 visitors annually and lends around 100,000 books per year.

In addition to its regular services such as book lending, newspaper and magazine reading, and electronic reading, Huainan Children's Library is committed to promoting ideological and moral education for minors. It regularly organizes “various thematic educational lectures,” “children’s photography exhibitions,” and “Chinese Dream children’s art exhibitions.” It consistently screens patriotic education films and frequently hosts events such as “elementary school composition contests,” “reading reflection essay competitions,” and “parent and young reader forums.” These activities provide socialist, patriotic, and collectivist education to children and youth, guiding them to read more and read good books, and nurturing them into a new generation with ideals, morals, culture, and discipline.

To further enhance its role as a “second classroom” in social education, Huainan Children's Library operates on a 365-day annual opening schedule to maximally meet the borrowing needs of young readers. To fully realize the library’s public welfare, foundational, equitable, and convenient nature, and to address the challenges faced by children in remote and rural areas who want to read but have limited access, the library has established branch libraries in Fengtai County and Panji District, in addition to 25 grassroots circulation stations across towns, villages, communities, and schools in the city. It plans to further expand its service scope by setting up reading corners in communities to facilitate borrowing for readers.

To encourage young people to love culture and the arts, promote quality education, and enrich children’s extracurricular lives, the library has created a platform for young people to showcase their artistic works. During the annual “Children’s Day” period, it continuously holds photography exhibitions such as “Beautiful Childhood? Wonderful Moments.” To enrich the contemporary meaning of the “Chinese Dream” and further elevate the cultural aspirations of the youth, it also regularly organizes “Chinese Dream” children’s art exhibitions. Through the unique perspectives and fresh creativity of children, these exhibitions use brushstrokes to depict the rapid changes in the motherland and hometown, further showcasing the strong cohesion and appeal of the “Chinese Dream,” and fostering a positive cultural atmosphere.

To better serve young readers, the Huainan Children's Library has established a Young Readers Club. Through QQ and WeChat platforms, it releases monthly new book recommendations, helping parents and children stay updated on the latest library developments and allowing students to be the first to know about newly added books. Building on this, the club organizes the “New Sprouts Lecture Series,” inviting experts to give talks. Club members can regularly sign up for various free interest classes (including photography, calligraphy, Peking Opera, composition, art, young reporters, psychological counseling, and more).

On the basis of the above initiatives, the city children’s library actively responds to the municipal Party committee and government’s call to bring culture to the grassroots. It accelerates the innovation of service models, using the “People’s Culture Grand Lecture Hall” as a platform. In conjunction with the “Earth’s Joyful Song” cultural exhibition activities and the free open projects of the cultural livelihood program, it organizes experts and teachers to provide lectures and training at the grassroots level as cultural volunteers. Regularly held topics include “Reading Guidance for Children and Youth,” “Family Education Guidance for Children and Youth,” “Photography Knowledge Lectures for Children and Youth,” and “Research on Strategies to Overcome Learning Difficulties,” with a focus on addressing the most pressing concerns of teachers and students regarding reading guidance and family education.

For a long time, the work of Huainan Children's Library has been recognized and affirmed by society and higher authorities, earning multiple commendations. It has been awarded the title of “National Advanced Collective in the Cultural System” by the Ministry of Culture and the former Ministry of Personnel, and was designated a “National Second-Class Library” by the Ministry of Culture in 2013. It has consistently been honored as a provincial and municipal-level civilized unit and advanced organization. It has also been named by relevant departments as a “Youth Art Creation Base,” “Huainan Youth Science and Technology Education Base,” and “Tianjia’an District Children’s Extracurricular Activity Base.”