Private Libraries in China: Their Diversity, Informatization, and Role as Public Spaces

Private libraries in China—most of which were created by bottom-up processes, not top-down government mandates—offer a diversity of services to a range of constituencies. They offer individuals space for reading and study, information exchange, interpersonal communication, IT training, amusement, recreation, and entertainment. They offer schools and communities an aggregated abundance of social resources in a learning-centered atmosphere, which in turn enhances school- and community-based cooperation. For society as a whole, they offer support for the elimination of "knowledge poverty," and a boost for public service and civil society. Thus they function, to some degree, as community informatization commons and community-based public space.