BEIJING,Feb.4(Xinhua)--Howlongdoesittakeforareadertogethisdesiredbookafterplacinganorderinalibraryofover8millionbooks
TheanswerfromanewlibraryinsuburbanBeijingislessthan15minutes.
LocatedintheeasterndistrictofTongzhou,BeijingLibraryhasbecomeapopulardestinationsinceitopenedinlateDecember.Itreceivedover80,000visitsduringthethree-dayNewYearholiday.
Bookloversareattractednotonlytothelibrary'sarchitecturaldesignwhichresemblesareadingspaceundergiantginkgotrees,butalsoitsabundantcollectionofbooksandsmartservices.
Withatotalconstructionareaofabout75,000squaremeters,BeijingLibraryhousesover8millionbooks.Thetoweringstacksonthelibrary'sbasementfloorcontributetothemassivebookcollectioncapacity,whichispartofthelargestsingleentityofautomatedstorageandretrievalsystem(AS/RS)forbooksinChina.
Thestackshaveatotalstorageareaoflessthan3,000squaremeters,yettheycanstoreuptosome7.1millionbookslargelyduetotheirspecialdesign.Suchahugestockmightrequireastorageareaofatleast10,000squaremetersfortraditionallibraries.
Inadditiontothestacks,thesmartsystemincludesvarioustypesofsmartequipmentlikerobots,enablingintelligentbookdeliveryandauxiliarysorting.
"Theautomatedbookstorageandretrievalsystemfunctionslikeasmartbrainofthelibrary,enablinganarrayofhighlyefficientreadingservicesthatreducemanuallabor,"saidShiQi,generalmanageroftheAS/RSbusinessunitofJiatuTechnology,asmartreadingserviceproviderresponsibleforthedesignofBeijingLibrary'sAS/RS.
BeijingLibraryisnotaloneinadoptinginnovativestoragemethods.TheSuzhouNo.2Library,whichopenedinlate2019,wasthefirstChineselibrarytoembracethesmartbookstorageandretrievalsystem.
"Asmorelocalgovernmentsputenrichingpeople'sculturallifehighontheiragenda,weareseeinggrowinginterestfrompubliclibrariestointroducethesmartstorageandretrievalsystem,"Shisaid.
Tomakeborrowingbookseasier,visitorstoBeijingLibrarycanregisterforaseamlessbook-borrowingserviceempoweredbyfacialrecognitionandothertechnologies.Adigitalguideatthelibrary'sentrancealsoofferson-demandinteractionswithvisitors.
Forreaderswhowanttosparethetraveltothelibrary,theycanusetheonlinebook-borrowingservice,whichwilldelivertheorderedbooktotheirdoorstep.Thelibrary'sonlinebookborrowingserviceisopentoreadersnotonlyinBeijingbutalsoinneighboringTianjinMunicipalityandHebeiProvince.
"It'squitearefreshingexperiencetovisitthelibrary,"saidMengFan,alocalsixthgrader."Thebookshereenrichyourmind,andsomesmartservicesherecanblowyourmind."■