Preserving the past, preparing for the future: Modern Chinese libraries and librarianship, 1898–2000s

Abstract

Libraries and librarianship have existed in China for over two millennia. But until just before the end of the last royal dynasty in 1911, libraries were mostly imperial or private institutions. Access was limited to elites and librarians acted as gatekeepers. This began to change with the advent of the library reform movement in 1898, which advocated the building of more libraries, opening them to all persons, and acquiring foreign–language publications. The movement itself lasted a mere 100 days, but inspired two revivals last century. The first occurred after the establishment of the People’s Republic of China in 1949 and lasted until the start of the disastrous Cultural Revolution in 1966. And the second occurred soon after the Revolution’s end in 1976 and is ongoing. Modern librarianship started early last century as a hybrid of domestic and foreign practices before paralleling China’s mid–century isolation from and post–1978 reopening to the world. Individuals, professional societies, and university–level library science programs have all proved instrumental in the modernization process. Democratic voices from the 1890s to the 1930s speak to the current need for national political reform. The Chinese should look in their own libraries (and archives) because they contain the forgotten speeches and writings of native founding–father like democrats who can provide ideas and answers on how best to reform.