Introducation
Libraries
The history of CCNU library can be traced back to Boone College Library established in 1903 and the Boone Library in 1910. In 1951, libraries of Huazhong University, Zhonghua University and the Education College of Zhongyuan University were merged into the unified Huazhong Normal Academy Library, which was renamed Huazhong Normal College Library in 1953, and eventually Central China Normal University Library in 1985. Our library, after over a century’s development, has already become a document resource center for all the teaching and research activities on campus and ranks among the best in terms of scale and collection of all university libraries in Hubei province.
CCNU Library, with a total size of 39,357 square meters, is composed of the main building (the new library) and the old building. The old library, founded in 1961, occupies 9,000 square meters. The new library, recently established in 2010, covers an area of 30, 357 square meters with nine floors above ground and one underground. The two libraries are connected by an underground cultural corridor.
Integrating functions of lending, reading, collecting, learning and researching, the new library serves as a document resource center as well as an independent study center. Having applied the “Campus Smart Card” system, it is also characterized as intellectual, digital and distinctive not only in the construction of study space, but the promotion of informationization. The new library is equipped with two 985 platform projects -- the Center for Teacher’s Educational Resource and the Center for Humanity Art Education. The former, supported by the digital information resources and taking digital service as the main form, successfully realizes the unity of the normal universities' resource vantage and the sharing of modernized information. The latter is responsible for the demonstration to all teachers and students the humanistic education and the humanity art, which upgrades the cultural aspects of our university while pioneering a new way for university libraries to participate in the school’s humanistic education at the same time.
Up till now, the library has a collection of 2,490,000 printed volumes (bound periodicals included), 1,040,000 e-books and e-magazines, 37 Chinese databases, 43 foreign databases and 4 self-built characteristic databases, namely, Huada (short form of CCNU) Collected Works, Guizi Faculty and Alumni Works, the Database of Dissertations and Theses of CCNU Graduates and the Database of Chinese Rural Studies. By 1991, the collections on Modern Chinese History, Modern Chinese Language, Granule Physics and 7 other subjects have achieved the research level according to the provincial appraisal. Moreover, the library holds 111,779 volumes of thread-bound ancient books of 9,105 kinds, including 3,511 volumes of 455 rare-book categories--that of Ming Dynasty, especially 1,777 volumes of 105 kinds, among which the Comment and Explanation of the Book of Changes written by He Kai in the Ming Dynasty and the first four volumes of the Interpretation of the Book of Changes written by Pu Longyuan in the Qing Dynasty are the only editions all over the country. In addition, our library was approved as the National Key Protection Unit of Ancient Books, which creates a new platform for its development.
Armed with a variety of modern means and facilities, our library provides convenient services. Apart from the usual borrowing service, it also provides services of multi-type and multi-layer, such as document retrieval, sci-tech novelty retrieval, checking service, readers’ instruction, interlibrary loan transaction, document delivery, etc. At the same time, our library actively takes part in foreign exchange and cooperation. And now we have got the membership of China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS), and of China Academic Humanities and Social Sciences Library (CASHL), authorized to deliver documents. We also make contributions to the second-phase construction of China Academic Digital Associative Library (CADAL). What’s more, our library has established the data exchange network with many inland university libraries, as well as 18 university libraries in countries and regions as the US, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, etc.
The charm of CCNU library lies in its abundant collection, excellent service and warm-hearted staff. Taking “Readers first, service above all” as the ultimate objective, we have built a fine library culture and a harmonious environment, and provided information support of high quality and efficiency for all the teachers and students.
With a glorious history, we are looking forward to opening a splendid new chapter. Taking the “Five-C Harmonious Culture” (Compassion, Concentration, Conscience, Confidence and Comfort) as the guidance, CCNU Library will further improve the document resource construction and management, thus making our library more modernized and humanized.
