Shanghai Library
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| Established | 1847 |
|---|---|
| Location | Shanghai,  China
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| Branches | n/a |
| Collection | |
| Size |
1.7 million ancient Chinese books 50.95 million items |
| Access and use | |
| Circulation | n/a |
| Population served | members of the public |
| Other information | |
| Budget | n/a |
| Director | Wu Jianzhong |
| Staff | n/a |
| Website | http://www.library.sh.cn/english/ |
1.7 million ancient Chinese books
Shanghai Library (Simplified Chinese: 上海图书馆; Pinyin:Shànghǎi túshūguǎn) is the second largest library in China after the National Library of China in Beijing. It is located in Shanghai, China. At 24 stories and 348 feet (106 m) tall, it is the tallest library in the world, as well as one of the largest. The building has a tower that looks like a giant lighthouse.
The Bibliotheca Zi-Ka-Wei is the first modern library to have been established in Shanghai. It was established in 1847.
In 1925, Shanghai East Library, the first library run by Chinese, was opened. In 1950, the Shanghai Cultural Heritage Managing Committee launched a campaign to collect books and after about a year, the collection grew to more than 200,000 volumes. Many scholars and celebrities contributed and some of them made large donations. The committee also started to buy books from abroad. After the mission schools and scientific establishments had been taken over by the Chinese government, the last foreign Jesuits left Xujiahui in 1951. The Xujiahui Library, along with other libraries formerly run by foreign groups, was placed under the control of the Shanghai Municipal Library, which had been established on July 22, 1952. This was the first large municipal public library in Shanghai. Marked the Shanghai library career in the founding of new China has taken a historic step. The library had a collection of more than 700,000 volumes. the Shanghai Municipal Library of Historical Documents（formerly known as Shanghai private Hezhong library founded in 1939 by Jingkui Ye and Yuanji Zhang）, The Xujiahui Library (Bibliotheca Zikawei), which reopened in 1977, also became a branch of the Shanghai Library. It was the second largest comprehensive public library in China, in terms of collection, services, and professional expertise. In October 1995, the Shanghai library merged with the Shanghai Institute of science and technology information, and became the first provincial (city) level library and information association.
Shanghai library has compiled 130 volumes of ancient books (including books about 180 thousand copies), 160 thousand (of which 2 thousand copiess)，the Ming and Qing Dynasties in modern letters 118 thousand. A large increase in the collection, fully illustrated by the care and support of all sectors of society, the Shanghai library for the collection and preservation of traditional cultural heritage of great importance.
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