Light from Light visited the Shanghai Libary from the 3rd of November 2010 until the 7th of February 2011, and was presented concurrently at the State Library of Queensland.
The Shanghai Library and the State Library of Queensland are sister-state libraries. Light from Light presents a unique collaborative opportunity for these two libraries.
The Shanghai Library is the largest public library in China.
It is also one of the ten largest libraries in the world, determined by its impressive collection of 50 million items (Chinese and Western languages), and extensive floor space. The library also boasts a significant international collection.
The Shanghai Library’s landmark building was opened in 1996, following a merger with the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of Shanghai (ISTIS) that demanded substantially more space.
The library was the first in China to combine public services with SciTech and industry information research functions.
The Shanghai Library aims to become a “World-class City Library”.
Shanghai Library is a comprehensive public and research library. In October 1995, it merged with Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of Shanghai and thus took the nationwide lead in integrating public library services with SciTech and industry information research function at home.
There are a number of reading rooms, individual carrels, exhibition halls, lecture rooms, multi-functional hall, auditorium and several music appreciation rooms in the library. The advanced integrated management software governs the main services, ranging from acquisitions and cataloging to circulation and book searching.
The library houses over 50 million books, newspapers and scientific & technical materials. With the purpose of meeting the rapidly increasing cultural demand of readers and social development, the library has been working relentlessly to innovate services, as a result of which, over ten projects of great social influence were conducted such as the ‘One-Card-Through’ System, E-card Electronic Resources Remote Service, Shanghai Information Service Platform, Shanghai Memory Database, Shanghai Library Lectures, Text Message Service, Window of Shanghai, Collaborative Online Reference Service, and National Indexes to Chinese Newspapers and Periodicals, all of which are widely appreciated by the public.
Visit Shanghai Library
1555 Huai Hai Zhong Lu (Huaihai Road Middle)
Opening Hours: 8:30 am – 8:30 pm, Monday – Sunday
