• 2017-12-13

On November14, 2017, a delegation from the National Central Library (NCL) led byDirector-General Tseng signed a cooperation agreement with the University ofIllinois at Urbana Champaign (UIUC) to establish a Taiwan Resource Center forChinese Studies (TRCCS) at the university. On the same day, a Taiwan Lecture onChinese Studies was held and an exhibition entitled the “Fascinating Culture ofBooks” opened. This was the 26^th TRCCS the NCL has establishedoverseas, and the fourth in the United States. 

Founded in1867, UIUC is one of the largest and most famous comprehensive publicuniversities in the U.S. Its library holdings are the largest of any publicuniversity in the world, exceeding 14 million volumes, and contain over 24million items in various media. The NCL provided the center with an initialcollection of 772 Chinese studies and Taiwan studies research-related books,spanning a total of 916 volumes. In future, these will be added to annually.Staff and students at the university will also be provided with access toTaiwan’s rich digital collections and electronic databases to assist theirresearch. This will have a profound and positive influence both on thepromotion of Taiwan’s Chinese studies and Taiwan studies research in theregion, and on collaboration with important Midwestern universities andresearch institutes in the U.S.                      

NCLDirector-General Shu-hsien Tseng and acting UIUC librarian William H. Mischosigned two collaborative agreements. The first of these was to establish theTRCCS, while the second was to collaborate on the NCL’s Union Catalog ofChinese Rare Books e-database. The partnership between the two institutions canthus be said to be a comprehensive one.

A TaiwanLecture on Chinese Studies was also held on the same day. Professor Kai-wingChow was invited to deliver the lecture, entitled “Printing Technology, BookCulture, and the World of Print in Imperial China.”

After the lecture hadconcluded, a ceremony was held to open the “Fascinating Culture of Books”exhibition, which runs from November 14 to December 31, 2017. Visitors to theexhibition can view the many rarely seen ancient books on display and have theopportunity to print their own auspicious messages and New Year pictures of theGod of Wealth. It is hoped that this will deeply enhance their understanding ofthe content of the exhibition. NCL staff donned ancient costumes to demonstratethe tea ceremony, which attracted the attention of many visitors.