In Greek mythology, the owl is the servant of the Goddess Athena, and is known as the holy bird (used by gods). It is a messenger that symbolizes wisdom, and has spiritual powers, able to resolve all kinds of natural issues hidden from human eyes, and protect humankind.
Its Japanese pronunciation "fukurou" also means happiness, and this bird is seen as a bird of happiness in Japan.
In English, the saying "as wise as an owl" is evidence that the English-speaking world regards owls as a symbol of wisdom.
We have four mascots that represent our visions of Reading, Exploring, recreAtion, Learning. The "pi" in the names is abbreviation of the name of the new hall "public information." It symbolizes that they are messengers of wisdom that assist us in promoting a public information service. They, with the popular book-transportation robot BOPI, form the "Happy 5"!
In facing with the tides of digital convergence, we once mentioned we will actively transform into a "REAL Library" in the "Globalization: The Library's New Role" seminar. The definition and direction of development of R.E.A.L. will be explained below.