Beijing Library Renamed National Library of China

Staff -- Library Journal, 3/1/1999

Beijing's 90-year-old library has officially been named the National Library of China (NLC) by that country's government. "The naming of the library will help [the NLC] better fulfill its function as the country's only national library," commented the library's deputy director Zhou Heping. The library is home to more than 20 million volumes, making it Asia's largest and best-equipped book depository. The library served more than 1.7 million patrons in 1998, and its web site received ten million hits.