After two years of refurbishment, the Pingtung County Library reopened its doors on Aug. 28. Surrounded by the greenery in the Millennium Park in Pingtung City, the building has quickly become the city’s latest landmark.
According to Pingtung Country Government Cultural Affairs Department, the new library, which positions itself as “our library,” has 700 seats and a collection of 400,000 volumes, increased from the original 150,000 books. The library uses RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) technology throughout its collection, and introduces Taiwan’s first smart shelf for book returns, in addition to the 24-hour drive-through book return system.
Pingtung County Commissioner Pan Men-an says the library will function as Pingtung’s central library and integrate the resources of 33 township libraries and school and community reading groups, working together to help Pingtung residents enhance their appreciation of literature.
Photo: Luo Hsin-chen, Liberty Times 照片：自由時報記者羅欣貞
According to Malone Chang, the architect who designed the new library, unlike with other public libraries, the refurbishment of Pingtung County Library is based on the existing building and did not involve tearing down the original structure. This not only preserves the culture and maintains an emotional bond with the building, but “the renovation enabled us to keep the concrete, which otherwise would take over 100 years to decompose, in place.”
Each floor is carefully designed for different ages and ethnic groups, with the fourth floor dedicated to Pingtung’s literature and cultural diversity, displaying the works of local writers and books in Southeast Asian languages.
The library has also rearranged the American Shelf originally set up in the Pingtung County Cultural Office Library 5 years ago, displaying books on American society, culture, geography, history and stories provided by the American Institute in Taiwan.
The Reading Festival in Pingtung opened on Sept. 4 and runs through Nov. 1, featuring talks by writers and chefs, cultural tours and “locomotive libraries” converted from “blue train“ railway cars.
(Lin Lee-kai, Taipei Times)
歷時兩年整建完成的「屏東縣立圖書館」，八月二十八日正式開館啟用。圖書館座落於屏東市綠意環繞的千禧公園中，成為屏東新地標。
屏縣文化處表示，屏東縣圖以「Our Library」為定位，共有七百個座位，藏書由原本的十五萬冊增加為四十萬冊，全館也使用RFID（無線射頻辨識）系統，引進全台首創之智慧還書架及二十四小時還書得來速。
屏東縣長潘孟安表示，屏東縣立圖書館定調為屏東「總圖」的概念，未來將垂直整合三十三個鄉鎮圖書館、學校社區共讀站資源，提升屏東的閱讀力。
設計此圖書館的建築師張瑪龍指出，有別於其他縣市選擇打掉重建，屏東縣圖是由老建築重新翻修，不僅是文化、情感的延續，「原本必須耗費地球逾百年才能消化的廢棄混凝土，也透過翻修技法被保留了下來。」
圖書館各樓層空間為不同年齡族群貼心打造，四樓為屏東文學館與多元文化專區，展示在地作家作品，也有東南亞等多國語言書籍。
屏東縣圖也重新規劃了五年前即在屏縣文化處圖書館設置的「美國資料專區」，由美國在台協會（AIT）提供美國社會、文化、地理、歷史、趣味故事等多元書籍。
今年屏東的「南國漫讀節」於九月四日起至十一月一日舉行，邀請著名作家、廚師分享在地文化，並有火車上的圖書館「藍皮普快」行駛。
（台北時報林俐凱）
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