National Library of China, which is 100 years old today, probably never looked more youthful and in sync with the times. The futuristic oblong transparent top floor of its newest building, in Beijing's Haidian district, is only a reflection of the institute's fast-track progress toward modernization.
"The National Library of China is not only among the world's finest libraries, but with its comprehensive collections, new facilities, dedicated and talented staff, it stands in a singular class of exceptional national libraries," says Peter Young, in charge of the Asian division of the American Library of Congress.
"By sponsoring meetings and symposia on a full range of library and archive related topics, such as the preservation of ancient Chinese books, NLC is maintaining a tradition of scholarship and learning that is critical for the future."
One of the library's biggest and most enduring programs at the moment is digitalizing the entire collection, except those protected by copyright or intellectual property laws, by the end of 2010. From the images and bibliographical records of the oracle bones of the Shang Dynasty (c.16th-11th century BC) to modern texts, such as Eileen Chang's Love in a Fallen City (Qing Cheng Zhi Lian), published in 1985, an awesome range of Chinese literature can now be accessed.
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