• 2024-05-06

Construction of the building structure for the Southern Branch of the National Central Library and National Repository Library is nearing completion. On April 18^th, 2024, National Central Library held a topping-out ceremony at the site of the new building’s construction, symbolizing a smooth and successful completion of the project. Premier Chien-jen Chen presided over the ceremony, which was also attended by esteemed guests including Minister of Education Wen-chung Pan, NCL Director-General Han-ching Wang, Tainan City Mayor Wei-che Huang, representatives from the library and information industry, local Tainan legislators and over 20 Tainan City Council members, and members of the construction team who together paid witness to this important milestone in the completion of the new building. This construction project is expected to be completed by the end of 2025, when it will have a capacity of 15 million volumes, provide reading resources for all-ages, and professional services for academic research.

Mayor Wei-che Huang expressed his gratitude to the current and previous premier and their teams, local legislators, Tainan City Council Chairperson Li-li Chiu and Vice Chairperson Chih-chan Lin, and the more than 20 City Council members in attendance, for supporting the construction of the Southern Branch of the National Central Library and National Repository Library. Their support has demonstrated the vital importance of this project toward humanities development both nationally and locally. In particular, Tainan is well known as Taiwan’s first city and this year marks its 400^th anniversary. Mayor Huang hopes that with the support of the Southern Branch of the National Central Library and National Repository Library, this culturally rich city can provide its citizens with better learning environments, a better environment for development, and richer library and book resources.

Education Minister Wen-chung Pan expressed his gratitude to current and previous Executive Yuan teams and to Premier Chien-jen Chen for authorizing crucial project funding, as well as to local legislators for their strong support. Minister Pan also specially thanked Tainan Mayor Wei-che Huang’s team and Tainan City Council Chairperson Li-li Chiu and all Tainan City Council members for their assistance in facilitating the smooth progress of this construction project. Minister Pan further offered encouragement to NCL and the construction team as they continue working hard to complete the project on schedule and to the highest quality by the end of 2025. Minister Pan believes that the Southern Branch of the National Central Library and National Repository Library will surely contribute to creating an even richer literary atmosphere in Tainan, a city of rich cultural resources.