New Styles of “Reading Space” as a way to expand public library service in China and Japan

Abstract

The development of Public Reading Space (PRS) in China and Japan is a new way for public libraries to meet readers’ needs in the digital and smart society by space transformation. The PRS is a physical public place with reading resources that opens free to the public. Different styles of PRSs are emerging in China and Japan in recent years, which can be divided into three types. Type I refers to those established by government sectors, while Type II is established jointly by government and non-government sectors, and Type III is established by non-government sectors. This paper introduces the current status about the new styles of PRSs as a way to expand public library service in China and Japan, and describes about typical cases of PRSs which were established by government sector and/or non-government sector to fulfill the needs of different communities.