According to Liuzhou’s administration of culture, press, publication, radio, film and television, the Liuzhou area – which covers six counties – now has a total of 256 community libraries.

The news comes after rural areas are reported to have had a library in every village in Liuzhou since 2011. Libraries in community areas of the city soon followed suit, and by December 2014, libraries had been constructed in every community in the downtown and the six counties areas. The next move of the Liuzhou municipal government is to boost the digitization of village libraries.

Following the construction of the first 10 libraries in community areas of the city in April 2011, there are now 256 community libraries, with an average collection of 1,200 books. A total of 1,147 village libraries have been built in outlying rural areas.

Since the complete coverage of libraries in Liuzhou’s villages in 2011, the city has become a ‘demonstration city of village library construction’ in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, hoping to inspire other areas to achieve similar library coverage.

According to the public culture department of Liuzhou’s administration of culture, press, publication, radio, film and television, the bureau’s next step will be to further promote the digitization of village libraries. By now, Liuzhou possesses a total of 39 digital village libraries.

Edited by Jake Hooson