Magnificent, impressive, fantastic... You hear all these laudatory words when people visit UIC’s new Learning Resource Centre (LRC). With cutting-edge design and facilities, it is expected to be one of the most compelling libraries amongst China’s universities.
Glass walls allow much natural light in, and on the other hand, out of the glass windows library patrons can relish a picturesque lake scenery abutting contemporary architecture of the campus. Under a huge skylight in the middle of the LRC, a spiral staircase leads you to a variety of services on its four floors where some areas are highlighted with grass-green carpets.
There is now much more study space than the previous library at the former campus. This new LRC takes up 18,000 m2 with 1800 seats for self-study and 200 computer workstations including 39 Apple Macs.
As a leading library with one of the most English readings amongst universities in Guangdong, it now has a print collection of 310,000 volumes equally shared by Chinese and English language collections, as well as over 600,000 e-books. In addition, it subscribes to over 300 periodicals and 60 databases in both Chinese and foreign languages.
This is not an old-fashioned library with obsolete equipment. It houses advanced facilities including RFID Smart Bookshelves, Superstar (Chaoxing) Chinese E-book Kiosks, Self-Check Units, a Book Sanitizer, a 24-Hour Self-Service Book Returns machine, and a Returns and Sorting System. It also provides with self-service printing rooms, an Audio-Visual Room, Active Learning Classrooms, Group Study Rooms, an Exhibition Room, a Book Club Corner (Graded Readers), Learning Commons, a Public Reading Area, Compact Stacks, and specially, Mindfulness Rooms.
Mindfulness Room
Newspapers and Magazines
Active Learning Classroom
RFID Smart Bookshelves
The modern LRC is designed to be multi-functional to meet different patrons’ needs. If the patron requests a specific service, the Circulation Desk and the Reference/IT Help Desk will be the perfect places to inquire.
Reference/IT Help Desk
The LRC is located in the central area of UIC’s new campus. According to Deputy College Librarian of LRC, Ms Fung Ying Cham, the concept of the design is “human-centred and detail-focused”. Ms Cham adds that the LRC is an improving being and the library staff hopes to enhance user experience by innovation and high technology.
Audio-Visual Room
UIC’s expenditure on the library resources was ranked 107th amongst 1062 university libraries according to the library data of the Ministry of Education of China in 2016. The average amount of money spent on each student reached 2000RMB, almost four times as much as the national average amount.
A second copy of a book is extremely rare in the LRC as it stresses variety, quality and relevance to UIC’s academic programmes. It organises the international academic books exhibition two times every year for staff and students to add their favourite titles to the library collection.
The LRC began to serve UIC staff and students on 14 March 2018 after a ‘soft opening’ while minor fine-tuning work is still underway until it achieves full operational capacity.
The LRC launches a 'soft opening'
UIC President, Prof Ng Ching-Fai, told the first batch of visitors at the opening, “All these advanced resources here at the LRC are to support teaching and learning while enabling our staff and students to have a great learning experience.” He encouraged them to take advantage of the resources of the library as well as many more facilities on the campus.
Reporter: Deen He
Photographers: Ivy Liao, Irene Yu, Tina Xie, Zhang Peng
Video: Deen He, Ben Wen
Editor: Samuel Burgess
(from MPRO)
