The reading room of Chongqing Library is full of people.

By Keqiao Cheng, EDITOR

Chongqing - “Since the opening of the loop line, I can go to Chongqing Library every day.” On the afternoon of February 11, Liu Cong, a local in Chongqing, posted on the Wechat Moments. Liu had spent a whole day in reading books there. Though the library was about to close, the reading room for adults, where Liu stayed, was full of people.

Thanks to the opening of Chongqing Rail Transit (CRT) loop line, the library has become a new choice for citizens to read and study. Only during the Spring Festival, the number of visitors has obtained a year-on-year growth of 90%.

Chongqing Library hosted over 20,000 citizens during Spring Festival

On the morning of February 11, Wang Li, living on Haixia Road, was preparing to go to Chongqing Library for reading. From Exit 3 of Chongqing Library Station (CRT Loop Line), a five-minute walk will bring Wang to the library. At this time, it is hard for visitors to find a seat in the adult reading room and study room.

Several years ago, Wang needed to transfer two buses to get there. As the one-way commuting time was over one hour, Wang was worried about traffic jams so much.

Ren Jing, Curator of Chongqing Library, explained its location. “Originally, we chose to locate the library at Shapingba District. Because the place gathered numerous schools as well as researchers and talents, which would give full play to the library.”

However, maybe the library had neglected the fact that this place had poor traffic condition. Thus after the establishment, traffic became one of the largest barriers for the library’s development.

The completed CRT Loop Line managed to break the barrier. Only during the Chinese New Year holiday, Chongqing Library hosted over 20,000 citizens. The year-on-year growths on numbers of visitors, book borrowing/returning, and library card issuing were 90%, 51%, and 43% respectively.

Diversified demands highlighting its advantages

Why does the opened rail loop line bring so many visitors to Chongqing Library? According to Ren Jing, in addition to the convenient transportation, the citizens’ growing interests in reading books is another reason.

Ren Jing expressed, “Currently, the citizens’ reading demands have increased considerably, which ordinary bookstores cannot satisfy. Thus, the book-collection advantage of Chongqing Library, which is the largest public library in this city, made it stand out from others.” Meanwhile, the establishment of children's theatre and the successive lectures in this library has provided citizens with diversified choices. Ren added, “Currently, our guests can read books, watch dramas, and have close contact with celebrities here. So they naturally become frequent visitors.”

Source: Chongqing Daily