Tsinghua opens new Humanities and Social Sciences Library

By Patricia Conceicao, Special to the Tsinghua News Center

The new Humanities and Social Sciences Library of Tsinghua University was recently opened.

Directors of libraries from China and many international universities have been invited to the ceremony that started at 10:30 am on the first floor of the new building. Vice president of Tsinghua, Xie Weihe, Kai Feng Foundation, which is the main sponsor, and the swiss architect Mario Botta, responsable for the project, have also been present in the event.

The new Library of Humanities and Social Sciences has 4 floors where students can read books and other publications. Some of the publications can be accessed through big touch screens. The rooms have several desks and many study cabinets and are provided with at least one copy machine. On the first floor, many automatic borrowing machines and computers have also been installed.

This new facility is "a gift from our generation to future generations", said the architect Mario Botta who also emphasized the symbolic dimension and collective value of the new library. It is a remarkable step on the history of Tsinghua, "Libraries are one of the elements used to measure the development of countries, regions and civilizations", said deputy director of China National Library Chang Pijun.