Peking University, April 25, 2017: Recently, to meet the upcoming refurbishment of the east building of Peking University Library in June, the library office set up a new study area in the spacious and well-lighted lobby of PKU Student Center. Designed to provide enough study area for students while the east building is under construction, the newly-set study area is open all PKU faculty and students.
A panorama of the study area
It is understood that the study area can seat 150 students. Except for the seat, the study area also provides facilities such as book-returning boxes, electronic reading devices and drifting bookshelves, which perform part of the functions of the library. For example, students can put books borrowed from the library into the book-returning boxes placed in this area, and the library staff will regularly collect returned books. The electronic reading devices carry many genres of books: classics, novels, best-sellers, educational books and art books. Students can download these eBooks to their mobile devices. Moreover, students are encouraged to donate their books to the bookshelves, and they can even enclose messages with the donated books, passing their reading experience to the next holder.
A guiding board erected in the study area
In the afternoon of April 10, the journalist of PKU News (Chinese) experienced the new study area personally. The journalist found that there was a row of lockers near the windows. However the lockers were almost vacant due to the small number of readers. Also, plugs were insufficient. Since the study area was located on the first floor, there were frequent passersby and thus the study area was relatively noisy. It is understood that the opening time of the study area is in sync with the student center, and thus the studying time lasts to midnight.
Students in the study area
As for the environment of the study area, some students complained the insufficient light for reading during evenings. It is also concerned that the study area will be unsuitable for study when the hot summer arrives.
Drifting bookshelves
In the morning of April 12, PKU Council Chairman Hao Ping, PKU President Lin Jianhua, and other school officers attended the Student Center. The officers expressed their hope that related department would work out a plan as quick as possible about the reconstruction of the glass ceiling to weaken strong light in the daytime. They also proposed to design a cafe section and communication rooms to facilitate communication within student teams.
Written by: Xu Yilun
Edited by: Li Ruiqi
