Written by／Zou Ming Yi

Photographer／Jiang Ming Yang

Photos provided by the NLPI、Zhou Zong Xin、Lin Yu Jie

At its core, reading has always been a delightful encounter between the mind and knowledge. A library is not merely a space for housing books, but a cradle that nurtures curiosity and imagination. Amidst the digital wave, technology is no longer a cold wall of data, but a warm light guiding people into the depths of knowledge. When technology and the humanities gently intertwine, the library transcends time and space, accompanying readers through the glow of smart innovation to discover ever-expanding landscapes of reading.

In the public imagination, libraries are often viewed as quiet, solemn spaces for storing books, accompanied by widespread anxieties about digital evolution—fears that "AI will replace books," "digital reading accelerates knowledge fragmentation," or "the library's role will be hollowed out." Libraries in the smart era are far more dynamic than we might imagine! By redefining the essence of "smart services," reading is no longer confined to physical pages and specific spaces; instead, it becomes a comprehensive sensory experience and a dynamic reconstruction of knowledge. This transformation is not a cold, mechanical replacement, but a magnificent evolution centered on spatial reinvention, emotional resonance, and collaborative creativity.

Spatial Evolution - From a Treasure Trove of Knowledge to Smart Co-Creation

As a technical expert in the field of AI, Zhou Zong Xin, Professor in the Department of Computer Science at Tunghai University and founding director of the Master's Program in Digital Innovation, observes that the evolution of libraries has followed a dynamic trajectory of continual transformation: from their original role as book repositories, to lending and reading centers that made knowledge accessible to the public, and, with the arrival of the digital age, into public spaces that connect people with the world. Yet the rise of generative AI is now triggering an entirely new wave of change.

“When AI can instantly answer encyclopedic questions, libraries must rethink what makes their physical spaces irreplaceable,” Zhou Zong Xin argues. In his view, libraries of the future will transform into “co-creation spaces,” offering hands-on creative experiences that cannot easily be replicated in the home environment. For example, readers may collaborate with AI in real time on a large library screen to design an airplane model or work together on a digital canvas to create artwork that transcends the boundaries between the virtual and the physical. This kind of “physical co-creation” service will move libraries beyond being mere places for reading and into intelligent spaces for creative incubation, enabling readers to rebuild deep sensory connections with the library and marking a profound transformation in response to technological challenges.

Xiao Shu, the Smart Librarian - A Bridge Between Knowledge and Emotion

Among the most representative examples of transformation at the National Library of Public Information （NLPI） is the creation of its smart librarian, “Xiao Shu.” Looking back to the early wave of generative AI in 2023, NLPI Director Ma Xiang Ping had already begun in-depth discussions with Zhou Zong Xin. Although the library had already introduced robotic services at the time, their understanding of natural language remained limited, allowing only mechanical responses. Seeing new possibilities in generative AI technology, NLPI partnered with Professor Chou’s research team and incorporated the concept of a Digital Twin to develop “Xiao Shu,” Taiwan’s first smart librarian of its kind.

The challenge of this technological revolution lies not in data training, but in shaping the user experience. To eliminate the “hallucinations” commonly associated with AI and ensure the accuracy of information, the system automatically converts readers’ questions into code so that it can retrieve information precisely from the database, rather than allowing the model to generate responses entirely on its own. Interestingly, data shows that two-thirds of readers’ interactions with Xiao Shu consist of casual conversation, with some even developing a sense of emotional attachment. This demonstrates that when AI is given a distinctive persona and responds with empathy, it can effectively lower readers’ sense of distance from the library and build a more everyday, human-centered connection.

Human-AI Collaboration - Unlocking Librarians’ Expertise and Precision Services

In response to concerns that AI may replace human labor, Zhou Zong Xin takes a positive view grounded in the concept of “Human in the Loop.” He emphasizes that the role of AI is not to replace people, but to empower them: by allowing smart librarians to handle repetitive library inquiries, AI can significantly reduce the administrative burden on frontline librarians, enabling them to devote more time to higher-value research and strategic development, and allowing professional expertise to be fully applied where it matters most.

In addition, the development of smart librarians placed particular emphasis on distinguishing between different levels of service. For example, factual questions such as reading room regulations require accuracy in terms of whether the answer is correct, whereas book recommendations or lifestyle advice involve value-based judgments about whether the suggestion is appropriate or helpful. To address this, the development team engaged in repeated fine-tuning, gradually shaping Xiao Shu into a professional, approachable, and composed presence. This careful attention to detail reflects the humanistic commitment that remains indispensable in the smart era. When AI becomes a capable digital assistant, libraries can deliver services that are not only more efficient but also more personalized and precise, ensuring that every reader receives dedicated support tailored to their needs.

Digital Transformation - Reconstructing Logic Amid the Tide of Fragmentation

Lin Yu Jie, Chairperson of the Taiwan Cultural and Creative Industries Alliance Association and a long-time observer of developments in the cultural and creative sectors, has keenly identified the structural transformation of reading behavior. She points out that, with the rapid rise of AI-assisted audiobooks and summary apps, readers are increasingly accustomed to grasping the core ideas of a book during short commuting periods. This is not merely a technological revolution, but also a shift toward the fragmentation and efficiency-driven nature of reading habits. Yet she also offers a perspective that turns the issue on its head: although AI has intensified the fragmentation of reading, it has also unexpectedly become a form of salvation for this era.

“The fragmentation of knowledge brought about by the internet age once raised concerns about fractured thinking; yet AI’s powerful ability to organize logic can now piece those fragments back together, becoming a mirror that reflects and clarifies our reasoning,” Lin Yu Jie observes. She believes that in this age of information overload, AI can help readers build clear cognitive maps, prompting libraries to shift from being passive “keepers of knowledge” to becoming active “guides to knowledge.” Although AI is not one hundred percent accurate, she argues that the focus of human learning in the future will turn toward judging the purpose behind information. Readers may enter the library not always to seek a standard answer, but to find, within the frameworks organized by AI, the seeds of inspiration that spark the imagination.

Shared Resonance of Inspiration - The Artistic Core Beyond Cold Code

Although generative AI is already capable of producing fluent text and analyzing sophisticated techniques, Lin Yu Jie emphasizes that the spark of humanity and shared emotional resonance remain irreplaceable. Taking Vincent van Gogh’s works as an example, she notes that the inner one feels when standing before a painting is a kind of soulful resonance that AI cannot simulate through training data. While AI can offer rational suggestions, its responses are fundamentally based on logic rather than genuine encounters between living souls.

Therefore, she believes that the libraries of the future should actively embrace “tech art” and seek to transform traditional texts into immersive, multisensory experiences. Through digital technology, readers will no longer engage with stories through sight alone but will also be able to touch the world of the narrative through multiple senses and interactive design. Lin Yu Jie argues that this shift in medium is key to drawing the “screen-symbiotic generation” into physical spaces. “No matter how easy access to knowledge becomes, the emotional connection formed between people and works, and between people and spaces, remains the cornerstone of human civilization. What libraries safeguard is not only history, but also that human capacity for perceiving beauty and civilization—the very quality that keeps us from becoming machines.”

A Kaleidoscope of Time - Rediscovering the Social Warmth of Physical Spaces

In a highly digitalized future, the social value of libraries will not diminish; rather, it will continue to grow. Lin Yu Jie shares with a smile that the importance of spaces such as the newspaper reading area in a library lies not only in the newspapers themselves, but also in the way such spaces offer older adults a new place for social connection. In the simple moments of turning a page, standing up, or exchanging a glance or greeting with others, these physical spaces create a sense of belonging and warmth that digital life can hardly replace, providing essential emotional nourishment.

To Lin Yu Jie, the library of the future is like a “kaleidoscope” filled with ever-changing possibilities. Within this space, readers can connect with the distant histories of human civilization while also using technology to spark boundless imagination about the future. It is both a sanctuary of wisdom that preserves human knowledge and a warmly human station of emotional connection, continually creating new cultural expressions in the flow of time.

AI illuminates the future, giving knowledge a broader and more expansive form, while libraries, through transformation, integrate space, emotion, and creativity to reveal a new vision for the smart era. In doing so, they continue to light the way for every journey into the unknown, allowing the beauty of reading to flourish enduringly in the digital age.

Written by／Jhang Ming Rong

Photographer／Zhuang Zhen Feng、Jiang Ming Yang

What new sparks can emerge when digital reading meets generative AI? The National Library of Public Information has redesigned its second-floor digital space and, in 2026, launched the futuristic PLUS SPACE Digital Co-Creation Hub. Inviting readers to co-create with AI, the space uses everyday topics and current events as entry points, connecting them with a rich array of e-books and online resources. In an immersive and interactive environment, readers can explore technology, acquire new knowledge, and enjoy an entirely new reading experience.

As digital reading and generative AI become increasingly widespread, changes in the way people read have made the role of the National Library of Public Information （NLPI） more important than ever. NLPI offers one of Taiwan’s most comprehensive digital reading collections, with more than 490,000 e-books, along with electronic databases covering periodicals and newspapers, children’s picture books, language learning, the humanities and arts, natural sciences, audiovisual materials, and leisure content. Supporting online reading across multiple devices 24 hours a day, the library breaks through the limits of time and space to provide readers across the country with convenient and immediate access to reading services.

To encourage more people to use its digital collections and respond to the growing trend of cross-disciplinary reading, the NLPI has developed a new digital floor space, PLUS SPACE Digital Co-Creation Hub, centered on experiential services and a user-oriented approach. Integrating the two defining features of digital reading and AI co-creation, the space not only shows the library’s comprehensive digital reading services but also establishes a landmark environment that reflects the atmosphere of the intelligent age and aligns with NLPI’s forward-looking identity.

According to NLPI Director Ma Xiang Ping, the Digital Co-Creation Hub is built around four “I” s—Information, Inspiration, Imagination, and Innovation—as its core spirit. Through the exhibition space, the library hopes readers will gain practical information, collaborate with AI in co-creation, and, through interaction, experience moments of sudden inspiration that bring innovative thinking and imagination into everyday life.

Empathetic Digital Reading - Bringing Knowledge Closer to Everyday Life

The Digital Co-Creation Hub adopts aurora black as its main color palette, creating an atmosphere that is both futuristic and composed, where readers can immerse themselves in a quiet yet distinctive reading experience. The space is divided into six zones—3D Time Machine, Empathetic Digital Reading, Let’s PLUS: Inspiration Puzzle, Mobile Reading Login, AI Co-Created Chapters: Mo-Hen, and Inspiration Window—all inspired by the big and small details of everyday life. Through these zones, visitors are guided toward cross-disciplinary reading and generative AI, bringing the library’s digital collections closer to readers.

As visitors make their way up the stairs to the second floor of the NLPI, they are greeted by the striking 3D Time Machine. With vivid large-screen audiovisual and 3D effects, the installation creates the sensation of being swept into a torrent of information, delivering the visual impact of technology while symbolizing the beginning of a journey into the world of digital reading. As visitors approach the screen, they activate the Book Destined for Your feature, which recommends e-books at random based on major historical events or notable figures associated with that day in history. By connecting knowledge to everyday points of reference, the feature sparks curiosity and gradually leads readers into the central exhibition area of the Digital Co-Creation Hub, where they can further explore NLPI’s rich digital collections.

In the central exhibition area, Empathetic Digital Reading features three vertical screens designed to resonate with visitors through relatable everyday themes. Playful prompts such as Time to Relax with Travel and Entertainment, Level Up Your English, You’re Not Alone on the Parenting Journey, and Couch Potato with a Literary Soul invite users to select topics that interest them and connect directly to relevant digital collections. In this way, access to knowledge becomes more user-centered, more intuitive, and more engaging. Whether they are teachers and students, working professionals, families, older adults, or teenagers, visitors can easily find database content that suits their needs and supports lifelong learning.

In addition, this section features a rich selection of electronic journals and magazines. In response to current events, seasonal developments, and changing trends, it curates popular topics such as tariffs, barrier lakes, and reality shows into visually engaging content, helping readers quickly absorb the latest information and stay up to date with current issues.

Starting from Readers’ Needs - Enjoy Reading through Multiple Channels

On the other side of the space, Mobile Reading Login is another key feature of the Digital Co-Creation Hub. In the past, readers had to log in to their NLPI accounts before they could access and download e-books, and these login procedures often became an entry barrier for first-time users of digital reading. To lower that threshold, NLPI has directly integrated its E-book Service Platform into this zone, allowing readers to browse and try out the service freely on screen. Selected titles are even available for full-text reading on site, making it easy for visitors to experience the convenience and versatility of e-books and significantly increasing their willingness to borrow digital titles.

Ma Xiang Ping noted that, to better respond to readers’ needs, NLPI conducted a questionnaire survey of more than one hundred readers before planning the Digital Co-Creation Hub. The results showed that many frequent visitors to the library were still not very familiar with its digital resources, while some assumed that a high level of technological knowledge was necessary to read e-books.

“The Digital Co-Creation Hub is designed to break this perception,” she said. “Starting from the readers’ perspective, we use everyday themes to draw them in and lower the barriers to use, so that readers can personally experience the advantages of e-books and digital resources in the library and, in turn, become more willing to continue enriching themselves through different forms of reading in the future.”

Co-Creating Text and Images with AI - Returning to the Essence of Reading through Technological Experience

As generative AI becomes increasingly widespread, technological tools are no longer just helpful assistants in people’s work and daily lives; they are also opening new experiential possibilities in the field of text-and-image creation. Through generative AI technology combined with sound and visual installations, Let’s PLUS: Inspiration Puzzle allows readers to interact with AI using simple spoken prompts and experience the appeal of new technology firsthand. By speaking a short phrase about their mood into the screen, readers can instantly generate a matching piece of short writing and an image. From realistic and lyrical to humorous and science-fiction styles, the possibilities are wide-ranging. Even those who are not skilled at writing or drawing can create a work simply through spoken input, turning inspiration into something tangible and experiencing the fun of co-creation through technology.

Hidden in the deepest part of the Digital Co-Creation Hub is a mysterious and captivating virtual literary creator named “Mo Hen”. In AI Co-Created Chapters: “Mo Hen”, he guides readers on a creative journey. After visitors give instructions to the AI, they unlock a series of creative stages, through which “Mo Hen” draws on NLPI’s rich digital resources—including the rare collection Lan Pu, e-books, and Photo News—to generate text, illustrations, and accompanying music that come together as a compelling story. This experience not only allows readers to discover the library’s collections through immersive interaction and appreciate the diverse possibilities of AI technology but also lets them scan a QR code to save their own personalized creation.

The final stop, Inspiration Window, is set within a pure white space. In contrast to the calm, dark-toned style of the central exhibition area, this zone brings in natural light and greenery through large windows, creating a serene and graceful atmosphere. For readers who have just moved through a series of technology-driven experiences, it preserves a quiet moment of reflection and a return to the humanistic essence of reading. Pausing in this bright and elegantly designed space, readers can look out over the sunlit outdoor plaza or lightly tap the e-book readers placed on the tables, allowing the world of reading to unfold endlessly before them while inspiration settles and deepens in the stillness.

Through its rich and varied interactive experiences, the Digital Co-Creation Hub encourages readers to use technology to acquire knowledge and express themselves. More importantly, it transforms reading from a passive act into an active process of exploration and creation, offering a new interpretation of reading in the age of AI.

When AI Meets Books - Reading Services Reach a New Level

The generative AI-powered Digital Co-Creation Hub offers the public opportunities to co-create with AI and has quickly become one of the library’s newest highlights. Looking back at NLPI’s adoption of AI, the library launched Taiwan’s first AI-powered virtual librarian, “Xiao Shu”, in 2023; introduced AI Picks You in 2024; and followed with AI Book Finder in 2025. Through these initiatives, NLPI has actively integrated artificial intelligence into library services, providing readers with more convenient, comprehensive, and personalized precision reading services.

AI Picks You is the first service of its kind among public libraries in Taiwan, featuring the use of the GPT-4o large language model. With readers’ consent, the AI analyzes their borrowing records from the past two years to understand their reading preferences and profile, then compares these patterns with the characteristics of the library’s holdings to generate a personalized reading description and a recommended book list. Much like hiring a professional consultant, the service delivers tailor-made recommendations for each reader. Since its launch, AI Picks You has recorded tens of thousands of searches annually and has been widely welcomed by readers.

With the assistance of AI, readers can be matched more precisely with books that interest them, saving time in the search process and increasing their chances of discovering lesser-known titles beyond bestseller lists or librarian recommendations. For today’s readers facing information overload, this provides a more efficient model for book selection. In addition, AI can identify latent interests from borrowing patterns; for example, if a reader frequently borrows books on cooking and travel, the system may recommend titles related to international cultures, opening new reading possibilities.

To promote the use of library collections, AI Picks You is also designed to display each book’s availability status, and readers can directly click to borrow e-books, significantly improving convenience and reading efficiency. The recommendation results continue to be updated as subsequent borrowing activity refines the model, making selections increasingly accurate over time. At the same time, a feedback mechanism allows readers to add their own text under reading preference features, helping the AI generate recommendations that better match their current needs.

A New Revolution in Search - “AI Book Finder” Breaks Through the Limits of Keyword Search

The newly launched AI Book Finder is transforming readers’ conventional impressions of library catalog searches with its powerful search capabilities. In the past, users usually had to enter an exact book title or the correct keywords to find what they wanted. For readers who had forgotten a title or were unsure of a book’s category, the search process often ended in frustration.

Liu Yen Kai, a counselor in NLPI’s Information Systems Division, explained that AI Book Finder uses AI-powered semantic understanding technology, allowing readers to search without entering precise keywords. Instead, they can simply describe the topic, situation, or reading need in natural language, and the system will draw on book titles, summaries, and related content descriptions to understand the meaning of the query and identify books that more closely match the reader’s needs.

He noted that traditional library retrieval largely depends on bibliographic data, subject headings, and keywords established through manual cataloging. For example, in the case of books discussing sarcopenia, if the bibliographic record does not include a search term such as “muscle loss,” which is closer to everyday reader language, users who search with “muscle loss” may fail to find the relevant book.

With smart technology, AI Book Finder effectively solves this problem. Readers can search by entering a partial book title or even a descriptive sentence such as “I’m looking for books on stock investment planning for office workers” or “I want to travel to Hokkaido for a week in winter,” and the system will return corresponding recommendations. By using fuzzy concepts to overcome the limits of keyword search, it helps readers narrow their choices quickly and makes the book-finding process both easier and more enjoyable.

From consultation and book selection to book discovery and co-creation, NLPI continues to explore the many dimensions and possibilities of AI-powered services. With the official opening of the Digital Co-Creation Hub, the library remains committed to preserving the humanistic essence of reading while keeping pace with new technology, bringing a new definition to the connection between reading and innovation. Looking ahead, NLPI will continue to make good use of AI to provide diverse services and create even more varied and innovative reading experiences for its users.