Mission

 "Developing Tianfu culture and building a bookish Chengdu"

Enhance the construction of vast information resources, establish Chengdu Public Library Alliance, and provide borrowing and returning services that cover the entire city, including districts (counties), towns (villages) and communities. Improve the service network, offer free access to citizens, organize a variety of reading activities, and provide equitable knowledge and information services for both urban and rural areas. This initiative aims to enhance citizens' scientific and cultural literacy, safeguard their fundamental cultural rights, and offer intellectual support for Chengdu's development as a "Bookish Chengdu" and "Cultural City".

Vision

To build Chengdu Library into a top-tier, modern urban central library, leading in Western China and recognized nationwide. Based on its role as the "Urban Information Center" and "Lifelong Education Center for Citizens", the library will be developed to match Chengdu’s status as a national central city. In alignment with the city’s development and the enhancement of citizens' quality, the new library embodies the guiding principles of "Reader First, Service Excellence, Public Welfare, and Humanization", and adopt the service philosophy of "Innovation and Branding".

Library Introduction

Chengdu Library was founded in 1912, with a history spanning over a century. It has gone through several name changes: Sichuan Library, Chengdu Municipal Library, Chengdu Popular Education Library Branch, and Chengdu City Library. In September 2003, it was renamed Chengdu Library. The new library, located in the city center, covers 10 acres with a building area of 20,000 square meters. In 2009, it was rated as a first-class library by the Ministry of Culture. In 2010, Chengdu Library also became home to the Chengdu Ancient Books Protection Center. In 2016, it was awarded the "Qualification for Movable Cultural Relics Restoration" by the Provincial Bureau of Cultural Heritage. Chengdu Library is a national key unit for the protection of ancient books, one of the first youth science education venues in Chengdu, a model base for youth extracurricular activities, and has received recognition and awards from the China Library Association, including the Excellent Unit for National Reading and the National Reading Demonstration Base. The library has injected new vitality into the development of the public cultural service system in Chengdu.

Chengdu Library is open every day except for the regular closure on Mondays. It remains open during public holidays and operates 80 hours per week. The library offers 1,247 reading seats and more than 20 service windows. It provides a range of services, including Chinese Book Lending Rooms, Reading Center for Teenager, Reading Room for the Visually Impaired, Lecture Hall, Electronic Reading Room, Study Room, Periodical Circulation Room, Newspaper Reading Room, Document Provision and Information Consultation Service Center, Government Information Public Inquiry Point and Chengdu Copyright Service Point.

The library's physical collection consists of 3.45 million books. It also provides external digital resources totaling 452 TB, including 38 premium digital resource databases. Among these, there are over 1.6 million e-books, 100,000 hours of audiobooks, more than 3,000 electronic journals, over 150,000 video programs, and 130 million journal and conference papers. These resources are freely available to all city residents and Chengdu social security cardholders.

Chengdu Library operates a clustered service model consisting of the central library, thematic libraries, 39 branch libraries, 31 "Library's Reading Nooks" in bookstores, and 4 24-hour self-service library points. The library system has achieved seamless borrowing and returning services across the entire city, covering the city library, district (county) libraries and branch libraries. Readers can use their social security cards (no registration required) or ID cards to enjoy free shared access to both physical and digital resources throughout the city.

On April 23, 2022, Chengdu Library officially opened its thematic library - Tianfu Humanities and Arts Library, located in Tianfu Art Park. Operated by Chengdu Library, this library is open to the public free of charge. Tianfu Humanities and Arts Library covers an area of 32,000 square meters, with a planned collection capacity of 800,000 volumes. It offers 2,210 seating spaces, with the multifunctional hall and lecture hall together accommodating up to 600 people for events.

Tianfu Humanities and Arts Library features a diverse range of functional areas, including reader borrowing sections, Children's Reading Center, Life & Aesthetics Hall, Ancient Chinese Classics Study Area, Library of Local, and International Center For Intercultural Communication. Its goal is to provide the public with a multifunctional space that integrates reading, leisure, aesthetics, artistic experiences, and cultural exchange.

In addition to showing spatial aesthetics, Tianfu Humanities and Arts Library also embodies the integration of modern libraries with technology, tourism, aesthetics, lifestyle spaces, bookstores, and other industries. In terms of technological integration, the library demonstrates the advanced standards of domestic libraries, with features such as an RFID book positioning system, a 24-hour self-service library, intelligent venues, robotic librarians, smart walls, and real-time big data displays. Regarding tourism, the library's design incorporates scenic and participatory elements to transform it into a stylish, elegant space for tourism, reading, and leisure experiences. The library also reflects the cultural heritage of citywide reading, creating a beautiful vision of Chengdu as a "bookish city" and a "park city," while emphasizing the essence of Tianfu culture. Furthermore, the integration with bookstores breaks away from traditional library models, incorporating bookstore-style book displays and cultural product sales, continuously enriching and enhancing the library's offerings and the reader experience.

Tel.  028-86130651(Chengdu Library) , 028-63066031(Tianfu Humanities and Arts Library)