Tianjin Library

　　Tianjin Library is one of the earlier-established and historically significant provincial-level public libraries in China. Since its founding as the Zhili Library in 1908 (the 34th year of the Guangxu reign of the Qing Dynasty), it has been in existence for nearly a century. This has been a century of tremendous change in China and also a period of vigorous development for modern public libraries in the country. After the mid-19th century, influenced by the Reform Movement and the Self-Strengthening Movement, local officials and gentry in Tianjin actively established schools. This led to a growing demand for both new and classical books, and some insightful individuals recognized that "in modern times, the cultural advancement of all nations has invariably gone hand in hand with the establishment of schools and libraries." Against this historical backdrop, the Zhili Library, the earliest modern public library in northern China, was born.

　　In October of the 33rd year of the Guangxu reign (November 1907), Lu Jing (Muzhai), the then Educational Commissioner of Zhili, began preparations to establish the Zhili Library with the aim of "preserving national heritage, promoting culture, supporting school education, and increasing societal knowledge." (Image 1) The library officially opened on May 11 of the 34th year of the Guangxu reign (June 9, 1908). Initially located within the Zhili Educational Affairs Office on Dajing Road in Hebei District (now Zhongshan Road in Hebei District), its initial collection was based on 1,342 volumes originally displayed by Mr. Yan Fuxun at the Tianjin Educational Products Exhibition Hall, over 10,000 volumes provided by the Zhili Governor's Office, and 120,000 volumes specially purchased with funds requested by the Educational Commissioner’s Office. Later, Mr. Yan Fuxun donated an additional 1,200 volumes, and donations were also received from Xu Shichang, the Governor of Fengtian, among others. (Image 2) At the time of opening, the collection totaled nearly 200,000 volumes (books). The compiled "Catalogue of the Zhili Library" in 32 volumes comprehensively reflected the initial holdings of the library.

　　In the second year of the Republic of China (1913), the library moved to a building in the northern part of Zhongshan Park and had its own dedicated premises for the first time. (Image 4) In September 1914, a public library was also established on East Road. At the time, it was acclaimed as the third-largest library in China. In September 1918, the library was renamed the "First Provincial Library of Zhili." Yan Tong (Taishun) was appointed as the head librarian. In 1928, it was renamed again as the "First Provincial Library of Hebei Province." After the fall of Tianjin in July 1937, the library building was occupied by the Japanese invading forces and renamed the "Second Municipal Library of Tianjin Special Municipality." After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, it was renamed the "Hebei Provincial Tianjin Library." Upon inventory, only about 100,000 Chinese books and 4,000 foreign language books remained. Thereafter, until the liberation of Tianjin, due to financial constraints, the library operations stagnated.

　　In the spring of 1929, Tianjin Special Municipality established a municipal library and issued the "Outline Plan for the Municipal Library." Local gentry Wang Xianbin enthusiastically supported the library cause and sold his residence at Yangjia Garden in Nankai, consisting of 114 rooms, at a low price to serve as the library premises. The opening ceremony was held on June 20, 1931. (Image 5) After Tianjin fell in 1937, it was renamed the "First Municipal Library of Tianjin Special Municipality." After the victory of the Anti-Japanese War in 1945, it reverted to its original name, the "Tianjin Municipal Library."

　　One of China’s large comprehensive public libraries. Its original location was at No. 12 Chengde Road, Heping District. The new library is situated on Fukang Road in Nankai District and opened in December 1991. It covers an area of 4 hectares, with the main building being 18 stories high and a construction area of over 37,000 square meters. It has 29 specialized reading rooms, over 2,000 seats, and a current collection of more than 2.8 million volumes. The library is equipped with various advanced facilities and uses computer management, making it a modern library. It also has two audiovisual reading rooms equipped with a four-channel simultaneous interpretation system, suitable for academic lectures.

　　Tianjin Library’s Fukang Road branch is located to the north of the scenic Tianjin Water Park and within Tianjin’s planned cultural, educational, and scientific research zone. Covering nearly 50 acres with a construction area of 32,000 square meters, it can accommodate a collection of 5 million volumes. The building adopts a clustered layout with high book stacks and low reading areas, featuring a “工”-shaped floor plan and a “山”-shaped facade. It is symmetrical, well-arranged, and rich in traditional Chinese cultural characteristics. The Fukang Road branch is positioned as a professional information service center, providing both popularized professional literature services and actively engaging in deep-processing services for professional literature. On the basis of meeting citizens’ professional information needs, it strives to explore new models of professional information services for public libraries.

　　Tianjin Library’s Haihe Education Park branch is located in the heart of the Haihe Education Park in Jinnan District, Tianjin, surrounded by beautiful scenery and a strong academic atmosphere. With a total construction area of 32,000 square meters, it has a designed total collection capacity of 1 million volumes. It is positioned as a center for college students’ cultural quality education, primarily serving social science and literary works to meet the extracurricular reading needs of teachers and students in the park as well as the basic reading needs of local residents. The establishment of the Haihe Education Park branch represents a major initiative in which the public cultural system and the education system join hands to advance the construction of the public cultural service system.

　　The Cultural Center branch, together with the Fukang Road branch and the Haihe Education Park branch, form the Tianjin Library Group. The total building area is 120,000 square meters, with 2.46 million volumes available for open-shelf borrowing, over 5,700 reading seats, and a total designed collection capacity of 12 million volumes, ranking among the top in domestic provincial-level public libraries.