Never say ‘I’ve got nothing to read’ again
Print Edition
Children are, as they say, the future, and reading is fundamental to that future.
So it’s good news that construction of a new branch of Shanghai Children’s Library will begin near Changfeng Park in Putuo District next Tuesday.
According to the library, the design of the new branch is derived from the bridge in French impressionist Claude Monet’s garden — a rainbow connecting the north of Changfen Park with the south; a bridge between childhood and the future.
The five “centers” of the new bibliotheca — cultural, experiential, reading, research and teaching, and resources — are designed especially for children aged between 4 and 16, their parents and teachers.
When the new branch opens, the old library will be devoted to the under-3s with a focus on picture books.
The plan shows a ground floor “garden” of green space with gathering places and “reading stairs.” Anyone who has ever visited a book store in China will instantly recognize the importance of good reading stairs.
The second floor will be a cradle of knowledge and discovery, divided into sections for independent reading, parent-child reading, reading with library staff and a space for innovation and entertainment.
The third will be a temple of creativity, devoted to the fertile synergy between parents and their children, with a strong emphasis on STEAM — science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics. In maker spaces, children’s insuppressible desire to innovate will be encouraged to run riot.
The fourth floor will be a more ordered place, a “think tank” for secondary school students, their families and publishers. It will be a living knowledge database for children to build bridges of communication between industries. Education, publishing, innovation and technology will come together in a Petri dish of forward thinking.
A new library demands new books so the collection will be expanded and new staff recruited.
The current children’s library was set up in 1941. It contains 820,000 books, newspapers and comics. It is home to the much-loved “Shanghai Fairy Tale Festival.”
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