The NLC provides services for the central government, national authorities, major scientific research, education and production institutions, the general public and library community in China, which gradually forms a multiple service system with traditional document services as foundation, modern information services as guidance, and cultural education training as new growth point.
I Serving the Central Party and the State Organs
The NLC follows the state current affairs, provides document information support and guarantee for Party and state leaders, and the central legislative decision-making organs; the NLC provides efficient services for formulation of the state policies and state legislation through various manners, such as providing services for the NPC and the CPPCC, establishing the NLC Branches at ministries and commissions, launching "Platform for Legislative Reference Service of the NLC", and so on.
II Serving Major Scientific Research, Education and Production Institutions
The NLC follows the needs of the State in major strategic decision-making and key construction projects, strengthens services for education, scientific research and enterprise institutions, gradually improves reference service system which consists of general reference service, selective dissemination of information service, interlibrary loan service, document delivery service, photocopy service, and so on; the NLC establishes National Library Reference Collaboration Network, and aims to create a service brand toward enterprises and scientific research institutions.
III Serve the Library Community
The NLC has established effective cooperative mechanisms in library services which are featured with "leading operation, open resources, initiative services, win-win cooperation" to lead and coordinate national public librarianship development. The NLC creates a positive policy environment for librarianship development in terms of library legislation and important policies formulation. The NLC establishes cooperative platforms in various areas of national library community, carries out professional training, communication and cooperation with other libraries in China, especially with public libraries. Joint with the Library Society of China and other industry associations, the NLC is committed to strengthening exchange and cooperation with library community in China and abroad through the organization of various exchange and cooperation projects.
IV Serve the General Public
Serve Walk-in Readers
The NLC is open to the public without entry barriers all year round, which is one of the most open national libraries in the world. There are 24 reading rooms with more than 5,000 reading seats. The function layout of different premises has different characteristics: the NLC South Area provides professional services based on documents in foreign languages as well as special collections in Chinese and foreign languages, and display services of the National Museum of Classic Books; the NLC North Area provides services for the public, mainly including loan service and reading service of newly published Chinese documents, electronic resources, and audio-visual resources; the NLC Ancient Books Library provides research services based on general ancient books, rare books in foreign languages, chronicles and genealogies, and temporary thematic exhibition services. Through optimizing service layout, it forms a modernized library-services system comprised of the "searching, reading, inquiring and depositing" of collections; it achieves readers' self-services by setting up self-registration machines, self-borrowing and self-returning books machines, self-photocopy machines; A wireless network covers the whole library, for users to conveniently download digital resources; it provides Café and Dining Hall, and other leisure facilities for readers, which satisfy readers' various demands.
Serve Remote Readers
The NLC provides online reference services, document supply services, interlibrary loan services, and so on; service network covering Internet, mobile communications network, broadcast network and other carriers is gradually improving, and readers can access to abundant digital library services outside the library; the public can log in the NLC website remotely, register real-name account, and access to resources and services of National Digital Library of China. The number of annual hits of the NLC website and mobile portal is nearly 1.18 billion.
Serve Special Groups
The NLC Children's Library provides abundant children's documents for young readers, and holds various forms of children's reading promotional activities regularly; National Children's Digital Library provides an online reading platform for juveniles; people with disabilities can access to the NLC's resources through "China Digital Library for Visual Impairment" and "China Digital Library for People with Disabilities"; the NLC actively launches remote cultural education services for special groups, and holds training services for old people regularly.
Social Education Services
The NLC holds World Reading Day theme activities, "Wenjin Books Awards", and other cultural activities for promoting nationwide reading; the NLC holds more than 1,100 lectures every year, including "Historical and Cultural Lectures for Ministers", "Wenjin Forum", "The NLC Forum", "Chinese Classics and Culture", and so on; the NLC launches "National Library Open Course", which provides high-quality courses via the Internet; the NLC holds dozens of important exhibitions, such as "The Series Exhibitions of Special and Rare Collections of the National Library of China", "The Exhibitions of National Valuable Ancient Books", "The Series Exhibitions of Chinese Memory Intangible Cultural Heritage Projects", and so on, which are well received by readers; the NLC Art Center carries out art education popularization activities, which help the public promote artistic accomplishment.
