Songjiang Library

Songjiang District Library is located at No. 1626, North People's Road. The library has a history of nearly ninety years and can be divided into four periods. The period of the Republic of China. In January 1914, the county education bureau established the 'Songjiang County Education Library and Museum' based on the private collections of 'Rongzhai Academy' and 'Chen Xixiao Collection'. In the same year, it was renamed 'Songjiang County Library'. In 1918, the new library was completed, with separate book storage rooms, general and children's reading rooms. According to the 'Survey of Libraries in Each Province of China' conducted by Mr. Shen Zurong, the founder of modern library affairs in China, in March 1918: 'Jiangsu Songjiang Popular Library has 50,000 volumes in Chinese, about 100 in Japanese, and about 200 in Western languages. It receives 7,861 visitors annually and does not lend out books. The librarian is Mr. Lei Junyan. It is divided into old and new sections. Old books are arranged according to classics, history, philosophy, and collections; new books are arranged according to different sciences, no fees are charged, and the annual budget is 1,500 yuan (equivalent to the annual budget of a provincial popular library at that time).' In 1937, the library was destroyed by Japanese artillery, only preserving the 'Three Treasures of the Library' (which were later sent to the Nanjing Museum for collection). Afterward, the Songjiang library building was dilapidated, the books were scarce, and it existed in name only. The period of restoration after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It officially opened on August 1, 1956. At that time, it occupied a private house of 250 square meters, with a lending department, adult and children's reading rooms, 5,000 volumes of books, 3 staff members, and received about 90 visitors per day. In 1957, Deputy Minister Zheng Zhenduo of the Ministry of Culture visited the library and exclaimed with emotion: 'It would be great if every county in the country had such a library.' By 1965, there were 7 staff members, 72,000 volumes of books, and an annual circulation of 128,000 visitors. The 'Cultural Revolution' period. The library building was occupied, most of the materials were lost, and the staff were sent to the 'May 7th' cadre school. In 1975, the cultural center building was completed, and the library used 600 square meters. In 1977, the library was re-established as an independent institution, and the cultural center building was solely used by the library. In November 2023, Songjiang Library was rated as a 'First-Level Library' by the state.