• 2023-05-05

The National Central Library celebrated its 90^th anniversary this year, so on April 20, it held a celebration ceremony and an international symposium. The more than 200 attendees included President Ing-wen Tsai, Political Deputy Minister of Education Ming-yu Lin, the director generals or deputy director generals from national libraries in eight countries (England, the Czech Republic, Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Singapore, Germany, and Canada), foreign ambassadors to Taiwan, scholars and librarians, as well as important people who have donated books and manuscripts. Together they witnessed the National Central Library’s strong stride into 90 years and its new milestone of “A Library of Excellence, A Smart Taiwan.” 

President Tsai said during her remarks that many people have fond memories of searching for knowledge at the National Central Library. In the last several years, the National Central Library has continued to improve its facilities and space. For example, previously one needed a physical library card to enter NCL; however, now a quick scan of a QR code on one’s phone is sufficient, which is really convenient. NCL not only provides common library services but also handles the responsibilities of a national library, including promoting Taiwan studies and Chinese studies from the island to the world. The National Central Library has set up 45 Chinese studies resource centers in 28 countries to widen Taiwan’s scholarly influence and let the world see Taiwan.  

President Tsai stated that the Southern Branch of the National Central Library & National Repository Library will be completed and opened for use in 2025. It will become NCL’s preservation center for books and reference materials. It will also be a place for library information development and library service innovation and experimentation. In the future, it will play a key role for Taiwan in international scholarly exchange and knowledge dissemination. She also said that the National Central Library is a manifestation of the strength of Taiwan culture, as well as a representation of Taiwan’s influence in the development of scholarship worldwide. In the last part of her remarks, President Tsai thanked scholars and experts for their assistance in making the National Central Library an increasingly replete treasure house of scholarship and culture. She also left her blessing on the events planned for the National Central Library’s 90^th anniversary that they may be a success. 

During Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng’s remarks, she first thanked the Ministry of Education, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, past directors-general and library staff, as well as distinguished dignitaries from many sectors for helping the National Central Library achieve amazing success in the repleteness of its holdings, the professionalism in its services, openness in scholarship, and the dissemination of culture. It has played a navigating role in knowledge. The National Central Library has also proactively altered its service model, expanded the age restrictions of its patrons, analyzed reading trends throughout Taiwan, broken away from traditional space concepts, and crafted the National Central Library into an iconic hall of knowledge. This has transformed libraries, made them an inseparable part of people’s life in Taiwan, and unleashed new functions and the value of libraries in this new age.

Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng stated that after being appointed director-general in December 2010, she set forth 6 Visions and 14 Strategies. In 2020, she continued this tradition with the “National Central Library Strategic Plan 2021-2030,” which outlines 6 Visions, 12 Strategies, and 61 Initiatives. These will more fully develop the National Central Library's core values of “knowledge, culture, learning, experience, innovation, and cooperation.” The results have been significant, including creating a Taiwan Reading Festival that has gained a reputation internationally, developing the first digital TV service in Taiwan called NCLibTV Goes to Your Home, etc. The National Central Library has continued to innovate and improve its knowledge services, uphold the ideal of “learning from the past and inspiring future generations” and move toward our vision of “A Library of Excellence, A Smart Taiwan.”

During the festivities, NCL met with the National Library of the Czech Republic and signed a collaborative agreement that would strengthen our relationship in sharing professional staff, library resources, professional acumen, experience, and technology. NCL also signed an agreement with the British Library to work on digitizing ancient Chinese books in its collections, which will result in more replete digital content for ancient Chinese book resources. Regarding donations, Mrs. Pei-chi Wang, on behalf of her husband, former NCL Director-General Chen-Ku Wang, donated his manuscripts, letters, files, and pictures. Experienced art collector Shui-chung Wang donated the manuscripts and other artifacts from renowned historical fictionist Yang Kao. Joyce Cheng, a well-known actress, donated ten of her own paintings. Zhong-mou Du, from the influential and international book collector family that manages the vast collection called Chengding tang donated three first editions of Charles Dickens. Also, the Fo Guang Shan Foundation for Buddhist Culture & Education donated Master Hsing Yun’s calligraphy works as a blessing.

After the celebration meeting was over, NCL hosted the International Symposium Celebrating Nine Decades of the National Central Library. In response to how changes in this century have affected libraries, three keynote speakers were arranged, as well as four sessions of presentations. The first keynote speaker was Director-General Shu-hsien Tseng; she spoke on Discovering New Value of Library‧Aiming on Enduring Positive Input to the Human Society--Endeavors, Accomplishments, and Future Perspectives of the National Central Library. She shared insights into NCL’s long-term development, achievements, and future prospects. The second speaker was by Chief Executive of the British Library Sir Roly Keating, who spoke on the history of the British Library over the last 50 years and future prospects. The third speaker was the Library Association of the Republic of China (Taiwan) President Kuang-hua Chen. His remarks were titled A New Horizon of Academic Libraries. He explored academic libraries’ efforts in developing data services and advanced analysis as a means to strengthen library function.

Presentations in the four sessions discussed current trends and innovation at libraries. Director generals and deputy director generals from the national libraries of Canada, Germany, Estonia, Lithuania, Poland, and Singapore were invited to present, as well as Tamkang University Library Dean Sheue-fang Song, Bio-architecture Formosana’s Principal Architect Ying-chao Kuo, and seven other scholars and experts. The themes of the sessions were as follows: 1. Pandemic Impacts Bring Libraries Impetus for Change; 2. Smart Technology Leading Libraries into a New World of Service; 3. Libraries Practicing Sustainable Development as a Force for Good in the World; and 4. Interregional Exchange Creating New Values for Integrated Library Development.