A window open to the whole world. Shanghai Library's global cooperative promotion, “Window of Shanghai”
| Pages | 321-335 |
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.1108/01435120610702314 |
| Date | 01 July 2006 |
| Published date | 01 July 2006 |
| Author | Xuyan Chen,Liyun Shen |
| Subject Matter | Library & information science |
A window open to the whole world
Shanghai Library’s global cooperative
promotion, “Window of Shanghai”
Xuyan Chen and Liyun Shen
International Cooperation Division, Shanghai Library, Shanghai,
People’s Republic of China
Abstract
Purpose – The paper aims to focus on the “Window of Shanghai”, a cooperative program initiated by
Shanghai Library that aims to connect people and promote understanding, by the donation of new
books published in China to foreign libraries, especially those that are functioning as the major local
information gateway for people of various communities and/or with different cultural origins.
Design/methodology/approach – The paper is a review of the program.
Findings – The paper shows that the purpose of the program, to cooperate with overseas partners –
public libraries and other information institutions – to introduce and spread Chinese language and
culture through the donation of Chinese domestic publications, has provided opportunities and future
challenges. The program has helped Chinese migrants around the world to be better understood and
identified, and has contributed to aiding the continuation of their languages, customs and traditions in
subsequent generations.
Originality/value – The paper provides information on a program that is helping to spread Chinese
language and culture.
Keywords Libraries, Books,China
Paper type General review
Libraries around the world are called to make their contributions to help encourage
mutual understanding and tolerance among the ethnic, linguistic and cultural groups
represented in all societies, as IFLA “Multicultural Communities – Guidelines for
Library Services” and other documents state (IFLA, 1998).
Since its new building was inaugurated in 1996, Shanghai Library has been
engaging itself in offering services oriented to users of diverse cultural origins, to live
up to the role that the public libraries are supposed to play in the information society,
so as to create new social space for interaction and integration.
The library has more than 4,000 registered users from some 100 countries and
regions other than China. Many more visit regularly and frequently, although have yet
to register a library card. The library is widely regarded as a preferred gateway to
information and knowledge by the local expatriots and tourists from abroad.
It provides a large amount of foreign language materials – 377 newspaper titles,
19,564 journal titles and 561,000 volumes of books in foreign languages[1]; the
languages include English, French, Russian, Spanish, German, Japanese, Korean,
Norwegian, Arabic, Thai and so on.
The library provides various multi-language services, which include telephone
consultations, information desk consultations, online reference services, library
signposts and symbols, web site information publicity, fee-based information services
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available at
www.emeraldinsight.com/0143-5124.htm
“Window of
Shanghai”
321
Received 29 May 2006
Revised 7 June 2006
Accepted 12 June 2006
Library Management
Vol. 27 No. 6/7, 2006
pp. 321-335
qEmerald Group Publishing Limited
0143-5124
DOI 10.1108/01435120610702314
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