Suzhou Library

Suzhou Library was established in 1914, formerly Xuegutang (school for learning from the ancient times) of Zhengyishuyuan (literally, Zhengyi College) back in the late Qing Dynasty, and once named as Jiangsu Provincial Second Library. It is one of the early public libraries established in China.
　　The central library is located in No. 858, Renmin Road, covers an area of 16,000 square meters with a floor area of 25,000 square meters. It comprises about 5,000,000 volumes of collections, of which the ancient books account for about 200,000 volumes and about 20,000 Shanben(the very original copy of classic works). It is a national level public library that features of the garden-like architecture and modernized internal functions.
　　Since 2005, Suzhou Library is committed to building a public library service system covering the city, where now includes 88 branch libraries, two 24-hour self-service libraries ,108 community delivery points for online borrowing and 2 rail transit libraries, generally guarantee the citizen’s access to reading.
　　In recent years, Suzhou Library has been constantly innovating its service patterns, popularizing the general-branch libraries system domestically known as the Suzhou Pattern, building a brand-new reading atmosphere to citizens with scores of services such as the pioneering Online Borrowing and Community Delivery, Babies Like Reading Program,  You Choose the Books, and We Pay the Bills. Suzhou Library has become an indispensable public cultural space for civic life in Suzhou.
　　Suzhou Secondary Library which opens within 2019 lies in the dynamic island area in Xiangcheng District, and on the northern side of Huayuan Road and western side of North Guangji Road, which occupies 45,609 square meters.
　　Based on Suzhou features, Suzhou Secondary Library learns from the advanced international experience, builds the public cultural infrastructure with Suzhou flavors that is in accordance with the development of economy and culture of Suzhou and enables to provide socialized, professionalized and personalized service for citizens. As a new part of Suzhou Library, Suzhou Secondary Library has functional connection with the original library on Renmin Road, and they are also complementary in each other's development. It struggles to create the third space in Suzhou, to build a new public library that combines reading, learning with cultural communication and integrates compound type with inclusiveness.

Suzhou Secondary Library has three major functions: public library service, document storage and distribution, supplementary service, which highlights following features： to build the first large-scale intelligent library， to create a “Reading Enjoying Space” that aspires children, to create a new high-end information service platform, to create a warm and comfortable “Study of Citizens”, to create the second classroom of “Suzhou Literature Museum”, to create an immersive “Music Library”, to create an advanced technological “Digital Experience Museum”, to create an architects’ studio- “ Architects’ Library” and so on.
　　Location: No.858, Renminlu Street, Suzhou
　　Opening Hours: 9:00 am-21:00 pm (8:30 am-20:30 pm for summer)
　　Tel: 0512-65227889