A Comparative Study On Public Library Service Between Mainland China And Taiwan

The public library is the product of the development of human civilization. Itis an important part of the system of social and public cultural services. Publiclibraries meet the needs of individuals, community education, information andpersonal development by providing various forms of resources and services. As aclassroom where people can enjoy lifelong education, public library bears theresponsibility to spread advanced culture and the promotion of social civilizationand progress.This study bases on the facts of social and economic circumstances betweenMainland China and Taiwan. It sorts out the processes of the public librarydevelopment between the two sides, elaborates the current status of the services,sums up experiences and provides proposals to reform through the comparativestudy. I hope the study could be a reference for the development of public libraryservices in Mainland China.Firstly, it describes the changes in the size, structure, policies and services ofpublic libraries of Mainland China and Taiwan through elaborating thedevelopment process of public libraries of the two sides.Secondly, the study describes the concepts and theories of public library andpublic service as the theoretical basis of the study. It analyses the contents, systemplanning and services of public library between Mainland China and Taiwancomparatively. It also describes several services provided by public libraries of alllevels which could be individualized or combined.Then, the study on publiclibraries’ internal and external services of the two sides analyses their ways and means of services. The orderly management of service in the internal departmentsis a strong guarantee of the external service to civil users.Finally, the study rationalizes the changes in the concept of public libraryservices through the elaboration of all aspects of public library services inMainland China. Then it makes several recommendations for the futureconstruction of services.