Public should have access to school libraries

LIBRARIES IN universities and scientific research institutes should be accessible to the public, according to a new law on public libraries adopted by the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress, China's top legislature, on Wednesday. Beijing Youth Daily commented on Saturday:

Compared with their public counterparts, university libraries, the number of which is estimated to be at least 2,914, have a lot more books, but only students and teaching staff have access to them as most university libraries are not open to the public.

Buying books is a solution for enthusiastic readers, but it can prove costly and some books might be out of print or hard to obtain.