director_of_capital_library_of_china

The Capital Library of China (CLCN) was established in 1913, as proposed by the renowned Chinese writer Mr. Lu Xun. With a history more than one hundred years, CLCN boasts a collection of over 9.26 million volumes of documents, which include rare ancient books, local documents, modern publications and audio-visual materials. With the service tenet of “People Oriented, and Reader First”, CLCN is devoted to offering equal cultural information service to every citizen.

The CLCN has carried out cooperation and exchanges with its domestic and foreign counterparts and other cultural institutions. It has forged cooperative relationships with over a hundred agencies and jointly held local cultural exchange exhibitions with more than 40 countries to showcase local cultural resources in various countries, providing a window for readers to understand the world.

My name is Wang Zhigeng, an ordinary Chinese librarian, and it’s my honour to be a member of CLCN. I find joy in working with my colleagues every day and I love this life. This profession is a great way to expand my international view and build my expertise. At the same time, I have another role, which is the director of CLCN. I have worked in the library for more than 25 years, and I have vast professional experience in library and information science research and public library management.

I started my career at the National Library of China (NLC) in 1996. My job scope covered acquisition and cataloguing, serials management, reference service and digital innovation management. I was responsible for the collection development and reading service at NLC for more than 16 years and have been the Director of the Children’s Library of NLC for 9 years. I started my term in office at CLCN in 2020.

Presently, I am a council member of the Chinese Library Society (CLS), serving as the coordinator of Libraries for Children and Young Adults Section. I am a book lover, writer and translator of children’s literature. At the same time, I am a researcher and promoter of picture books. I have been promoting children’s literacy in China for 10 years. I like image narration and visual reading and have been a judge for many national and international children’s book awards, including Feng-Zikai Children’s Picture Book Award, BIB 2019 AWARDS and World Illustration Awards 2021.

In the past 15 years, I have been deeply involved in the Chinese national and regional library development strategy planning, implementation and review process. I can speak fluent English and Japanese, have an international perspective and actively participate in international programs. I have participated in international conferences and academic forums many times and am maintaining good cooperation and relationships with counterparts in many countries. In my opinion, the international exchange and cooperation between libraries is indispensable for the mutual connection and sharing of resources and talents. I look forward to have the opportunity to cooperate and communicate with various IFLA members.