• 2024-10-05

The National Central Library went to the University of Pittsburgh in the US to set up its 49^th Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies. Its expansion of worldwide collaboration is truly astonishing! This was done on June 24, 2024. The National Central Library Director-General Han-ching Wang and University of Pittsburgh Librarian Kornelia Tancheva signed the MOU to formally start off the collaborative relationship.

The world-renowned University of Pittsburgh was established in 1787. Its library holdings number over 4 million. It also has an East Asian Languages and Literatures Department and an Asian Studies Center, providing curriculum in Taiwan studies and Chinese studies and research. NCL Director-General Han-ching Wang, University of Pittsburgh Librarian Kornelia Tanchevau, and UP’s East Asian Head Runxiao Zhu have supported this collaborative effort. Both institutions are focused on long-term and mutually beneficial collaboration. NCL committed to open a large number of digital resources to the resource center, and the University of Pittsburgh worked with NCL to cohost lectures, joint exhibitions, and other events. Through this project, the faculty and students at the University of Pittsburgh will be able to interact broadly with those in and contribute to the fields of Taiwan studies and Chinese studies.

During the signing ceremony, Director-General Wang emphasized that Taiwan is the hub for Taiwan studies and Chinese studies, a statement that drew agreement from those in attendance. She presented the library with a replica of a national treasure over 800 years old—Annotated Anthology of Mr. Su Dongpo's Poems (in 21 volumes), and a replica of the Diamond Sutra to enrich their holdings and to highlight the historic nature of this new collaborative relationship between the two institutions. The MOU was signed and the signage unveiling was completed amidst an air of ardent excitement about future collaborative prospects.