SHENZHEN residents are being invited to voice their opinion on the intended locations of 30 book dispensers that are to be installed in October. Residents have until Sept. 15 to submit their comments.
According to a report on www.sznews.com yesterday, Shenzhen Library is soliciting public opinion on the proposed locations of the book dispensers before conducting an evaluation and making a final decision on the locations.
Individuals or communities can log on to the official Web site of Shenzhen Library to fill out an application form for a dispenser, or written applications can be submitted to the library office in Futian District, Gan Lin, deputy curator of Shenzhen Library, was quoted as saying in the report.
The 10 book dispensers put into service on a trial basis last month had been well-received. Official figures showed that 15,145 books had been dispensed and read in the past month, Gan said.
“It’s so convenient to borrow and return books in the neighborhood now,” a Yitian housing estate resident surnamed Lai said as a library employee put 400 best-seller books into a dispenser.
Each dispenser, occupying less than 10 square meters, has 400 books to choose from. The cost of each machine is said to be around 400,000 yuan, only about 20 to 30 percent of the cost of a town library.
The decision to install the dispensers is part of plans to build Shenzhen into a “City of Libraries” which was first proposed in 2003.
(Claudia Wei)