This Day, That Year

Item from Feb 21, 1987, in China Daily: The new Beijing Library's main building is nearing completion.

Located in a western suburb, the library will become the second-largest in the world, next to the Library of Congress of the United States. ...

Along the West Third Ring Road in Beijing sits the National Library of China, covering 250,000 square meters.

It is the largest in Asia, and the third-largest in the world after the Library of Congress in Washington and the Russian State Library in Moscow.

The main block covers 140,000 sq m, the second 80,000 sq m and the third 30,000 sq m.

The third block is dedicated to ancient books.

On Dec 12, 1998, the State Council, China's Cabinet, officially named it the National Library of China.

The library serves as a repository for the nation's publications. It also has a national bibliographic center as well a center for the preservation and conservation of ancient books.

The library houses more than 1.9 million records, including 270,000 rare items.

Books in 115 foreign languages constitute half of the collection, making the library the largest collector of foreign publications in China.

The library holds regular lectures on various topics.

It also organizes exhibitions, allowing people to view and study the essentials of Chinese culture.

In addition, the library has set up the Wenjin Book Awards, which is aimed at popularizing reading.