• 2020-02-26

In an effort to expand the internationalvision of librarians at county and city public libraries, and to promote theexchange of expertise, National Central Library held a 2019 AchievementReport for the Projects “Strengthening the Operational System of City and County Libraries” and“Promoting a System of Main and Branch Public Libraries” & theInternational Library Benchmarking and Learning Visit in Finland Report on January 21, 2020. Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng mentioned inher opening remarks that in 2019 a total of six counties and cities receivedfunding from the Ministry of Education’s “Constructing a Public Library Systemfor Mid- and Long-term Collaboration and Sharing Project,” including New TaipeiCity, Tainan, Hsinchu County, Miaoli County, Hualien County, and TaitungCounty. This was to be used for improving the operations in main and branchlibraries throughout the county or city. After one year of effort, we can lookback and see the results of these efforts. We can also look to the future andprovide valuable experiences that future libraries can reference. In addition, tobetter understand the current conditions and experiences of target citylibraries overseas in terms of operational development, in 2019 a delegationfrom Taiwan public libraries traveled to Helsinki, Finland to visit thebenchmark libraries there. What was learned in terms of operationsdevelopment, public lending rights, service quality, development projects, and other topics will providevaluable insight into Taiwan’s situation.

Reporting from the International LibraryBenchmarking and Study Group to Finland was startedoff by National Taiwan Library Director Lai-chang Cheng,who presented an overview of the trip to Finland. Next, New Taipei City Main Public Library Director Chin-hua Wang spoke on theirvisit to the Helsinki Central Library Oodi and thediscussion on “Promoting public libraries and public lendingrights (PLR) in Finland”; Tainan Public Library Director Yu-chun Hungshared reflections on the visit to the University of Helsinki Library, as wellas on takeaways from the discussion on “The policy,development plan, and service quality policy of public libraries in Finland.” HuanlienCounty Cultural Affairs Bureau Section Chief Shu-mei Yang spokeon the visit to the Kallio Library in Helsinki, as wellas takeaways on the discussion on “Collaborationbetween schools and libraries.” Taitung County Cultural Affairs Department Section Chief Liang-ying Hsie shared reflections on their visit to the National Library of Finland and the Itäkeskus Branch Library, as well as the discussion on the “Introductionof the work and services in Celia Library.” HsinchuCounty Cultural Affairs Bureau Section Chief Pei-hsuan Li discussed what they learned while visiting the Espoo City Library, IsoOmena Library, and Celia Library. Miaoli County’s Department of Education DeputySection Chief Hsin-hui Yeh spoke on their experience at the Pasila Library andthe discussion on “For Joy and Equality” at the Helsinki City Library.

After 12 amazing presentations, the convener of the oversite committee, Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng, led the group discussion and exchange of ideas. Lastly, Director-General Tseng presented certificates of completion to the Finlandgroup members, and a group photo was also taken. This was a perfect ending tothe meeting.