(1) NCL Main Library:

Opening Hours:

Tuesday-Saturday: 9:00-21:00；
Sunday: 9:00-17:00

Closings: Mondays and National Holidays 

(2) NCL Special Rooms and Centers (located at 4^th floor and above):

Opening Hours : Tuesday - Sunday: 9:00-17:00

Closings: Mondays, National Holidays

* The Rare Books Room does not open on Sunday. 

(3) Study Room:

Opening Hours: Mon. & Sun. 8:00-17:00
                       Tue. - Sat. 8:00-22:00

Closings: National Holidays, the first Monday of each month.

During closing days, the Library’s information systems are still available for users to do searches and to use the open access electronic resources.

Besides daily care of software/ hardware performances of information systems, library’s mechanical and electricity system, environmental cleaning, shelving condition, etc., the Library needs to do thorough routine check up and necessary maintenance at one-week interval so that library could retain its good condition to best serve our users. In consideration of most convenient time for people to use libraries, the NCL opens on weekends, therefore, makes Mondays as closed day for such routine check up and maintenance. However, even the Library is physically closed on Mondays, the information systems are still available for users to do searches.

There are specific rooms for special thematic collections located at 4th floor and above. There are very few people use such area after 17:00. For cost effective reason, such area and rooms are closed after 17:00 on all opening days. Besides, the Rare Books Room is closed on Sunday.

However, to allow researchers best use the research carrel, the opening hours of research carrel area is the same with 2^nd and 3^rd floor reading area.

(1) Eligibilities

According to the National Central Library Reader Service Directions, people who meet one of the follows are eligible to apply for an NCL library card:

a. Taiwan (R.O.C.) citizens aged 16 years and over.

b. Registered as high school/ vocational school student, or those who own equivalent qualifications.

c. Foreign people aged 16 years and over, with a valid passport or valid certification issued by his/ her country’s embassy or by the Taiwan (R.O.C.) government.

(2) Required Documents: One of the followings:

1. a. Valid Taiwan (R.O.C.) Citizen Identification Card;
2. b. Valid Taiwan (R.O.C.) Driver’s License;
3. c. Valid passport

(3) Place to Process the Application

To apply an NCL Library Card, it is necessary to come to the Library in person and present Citizen Identification Card or Driver’s License (Taiwan Citizens), or Passport (none Taiwan citizens) at the Library Card Service Counter located in the National Central Library lobby area. Address: 20 Zhung-Shan S. Rd. Taipei 100201, Taiwan (R.O.C.)

(4) Service Hours:

Tuesday-Saturday: 9:00-20:30；
Sunday: 9:00-16:30

* No services on Mondays and National Holidays

(5) For more information: +886-2-2361-9132 Ext. 218。

The NCL's target group of service are government agencies, juridical person, groups and researchers. Its mission is to acquire, catalog, and preserve national publications. Based on the role and target group of service, the NCL's collections focus on acadamic books. Since many of the books and periodicals are legal deposits, to preserve publications in Taiwan, the NCL does not allow items to be checked out and just opens to people aged above 16 or those who have registered as high school/ vocational school students.

The Library wants all users to apply for a Library Card because knowing who comes into the library is essential for ensuring a secure environment for all users. Besides, applying for an NCL Library Card means the applicant agrees to conscientiously obey the rules and regulations of the Library. In addition, it is necessary for users to have registered as a library user through applying a Library Card so that they could do online retrieval request when necessary.

Application for a NCL Library Card only required a valid Taiwan Citizen Identification Card (a valid passport for none Taiwan citizen). It is free of charge for the first application. It only takes a few minutes to get an NCL Library Card issued.

If a user forgets to bring Library Card, it is possible that the Library issues a Temporary Library Card for him/ her. However, each person is allowed to apply for Temporary Library Card for 3 times only. Applying for NCL Library Card for the first time is free of charge. For a lost card, replacement fee is NT$30.

Users are not allowed to talk on mobile phone inside the Library. There are courtesy reminders regarding this rule in the lobby area, on the Bulletin Boards, and on study tables. When there is someone talking on mobile phone, library staff would approach to him/ her to stop so that we can maintain a good reading environment for all people.

The National Central Library is the legal depository library and bears a mission to conserve and safeguard the deposit materials. On the other hand, there are limited seats in the Library. Therefore, the seats should be reserved for the users using the Library’s materials but not for people who only want to do study of his/ her own materials. Hence, the Library has certain restrict on carry-in things. The allowed backpacks and handbags are restricted as the following sizes:

(1) Laptop Bag: not to exceed 42x32x10cm.

(2) Backpack and handbag: not to exceed 30x21cm.

Users carry backpack or handbag into the Library should open the backpack/ handbag to let the checkpoint staff examine the items in it. Likewise when leaving.

(1) Books, periodicals, academic bulletins, newspapers. Major collections are in Chinese.

(2) Theses and dissertations of universities in Taiwan.

(3) Reference books, maps and atlas.

(4) String bound old books and rare books

(5) Microfilm/ microfiche and audio/ video materials.

(6) Government publications, research reports, conference proceedings.

(7) Resources for Chinese Studies.

(8) Electronic databases (including online databases and CD-ROM/DVD-ROM databases).

In response to the development of information technology, the Library has been trying to digitize the library’s important collections and to provide online access to such digital resources. Database systems provide for searches and access to such digitized materials include the National Central Library Online Catalog, the NCL Taiwan Periodical Literature, the National Central Library Gazette Online, and the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan (NDLTD), etc. The released digital images are allowed to view and download over the Internet. As for the subscribed commercial full-text databases, on account of the restrictions from the publisher, users have to come to the Library to use.