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Hu Lele (Guangming Daily): China's Ministry of Education has regulations on university libraries' openness to the outsiders, saying that universities should be open to the public if they are capable. Nowadays, it's almost a development trend for Chinese university libraries to be open to the public. The establishment of the Capital Library Alliance is really a big step forward in exploring ways of information resource sharing.
But, when university libraries offer free entry, it does not mean that readers can enter these libraries without any certificates. People must at least show their ID cards to enter university libraries. For example, the National Library, which is designed to be open to the public, requires ID cards or reader cards. On campus, even for students and teachers in universities, they still need things like student certificates to enter their university libraries. Without basic requirements, university libraries will fall into kind of mess in many aspects.
When the public is provided with free entry into university libraries, one striking problem is that they will surely compete with university students and teachers for the already limited books and space. In this sense, it requires the government to increase inputs in university libraries so that the free entry policy can be well implemented. If libraries find it impossible to satisfy both students' and the public's demands, students should be put first. After all, in China, the purpose of university libraries is to serve students and teachers for their learning, teaching and academic research.
Some people may say that we should learn from Western countries to let the public enjoy the resources of university libraries unconditionally. But we need to know that in many other countries, their national, state and city public libraries are well-developed and university libraries just exist as supplements to public libraries.
Thus, it's unwise to copy what Western libraries do. To open university libraries to the public, we need a gradual process and also supportive legal system guarantees.
Ge Jianxiong (Oriental Morning Post): Although most university libraries' conditions have been improved, how to effectively implement the free entry policy should be based on every library's own situation. University libraries are mostly unsuitable for the public. For example, in our university library, we almost have no books like novels or children's read. We should pursue real effect, not just doing something in form. Before opening a university library to the public, we need to ask whether it will be helpful to the public. What does the public need and what universities can do for them? So, to simply open the libraries without considering how to really help the readers in certain areas is not a wise practice.
The launch of the Capital Library Alliance is great. It points out the direction of Chinese libraries' development. How to properly open university libraries? I think this kind of library opening should be based on resource sharing, according to every university library's own situation.
Specifically speaking, cooperation between university libraries is necessary, so that one can offset its shortcomings with others' advantages. The government's support, of course, is also very important. If books are not offered to readers, is it ok to open online resources like certain databases? To ask this question reveals some people's ignorance that these resources are all copyrighted. Unless the government buys the right of use, they cannot be used by others freely. When the government buys out some databases and allows the public to use free of charge, then everything is ok. Because intellectual property rights are involved here. If a certain university buys this database and allows it to be widely used off the campus, it's against the trading agreement and is a violation of intellectual property rights.
Gao Dali (www.enorth.com.cn): To offer the public free entry into university libraries is now a mainstream idea. The question now is how to realize the openness. Nowadays, libraries' resources are kept in the form of databases. The traditional way of borrowing and lending books needs manpower and capital input. I think the most effective way is to open these databases to the public.
Ying Yiping (www.enorth.com.cn): Libraries' openness to the public needs those universities' proper arrangement. It's necessary to avoid any conflicts between students' use of libraries and that of the public. It needs a balance between ensuring the service to students and teachers and providing service to outsiders.
Jia Ximing (www.enorth.com.cn): Although university libraries' opening their libraries to the public is a trend, the target readers of these libraries are students and teachers on the campus. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Xi'an University in Shaanxi Province once adopted the practice of opening to the public and even tried very hard to persuade nearby residents to come to read. But the practice was later suspended, because the library was unable to meet readers' demands as the university's books were mostly prepared for teaching and academic research. In addition, the library was unable to receive too many visits. After all, school library's priority is to meet students' and teachers' demand and ensure the order of campus.
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