About Our Multicultural Services

Reader Service

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About Our Multicultural Services

With the current trend of globalization, Taiwan has become even more tightly linked with other countries around the world. Culture can no longer be represented by any one viewpoint, but a convergence of the mainstream and the diverse. The National Library of Public Information is a national-class public library aimed to service the general public, providing all audiences a just, free, timely, and convenient right to books and information. In respect of all ethnic groups and to demonstrate multicultural values, we promote multicultural services in hopes to provide audiences domestic and foreign alike a quality educational and leisure resource via our events, services, and collections.

Our current multicultural services can be categorized into four different aspects. In addition to the American Corner, Belgium Corner, which we signed a cooperation agreement with, we also provide services for new immigrants from Southeast Asia and Global Picture Book Center, Windows of the world. The two respective Corners are located in the multicultural service area on the third floor, while the Southeast Asia New Immigrant Collection is located in the foreign language collection area on the fifth floor. Southeast Asian Cultural Exhibitions are held irregularly beside the Senior Exhibition Area on the third floor, including book fairs and cultural fairs.

American Corner

On January 20, 2005, we signed an agreement with the American Institute in Taiwan to establish Taiwan's first American Corner. We currently have over 4000 collections selected and sent by the US Department of State to introduce American cultures and literature. Various events are held periodically every month, averaged at 70+ events every year, including English story time, English news, and cultural seminars. After we moved, the new American Corner has been setup in the multicultural area in the new location. It was designed with a theme of the Grand Canyon, equipped with two touch-screen computers to provide easy access to e-books, virtual tours, and a tour of the Foundation for Scholarly Exchange website.

Belgian Corner

To promote multicultural services, the National Library of Public Information has partnered with Wallonia-Brussels International (WBI) to establish the "Belgian Corner," which officially opened on January 19, 2022. This collaboration aims to foster cultural and educational exchanges between Taiwan and Belgium, marking the first cooperative initiative between the Belgian Office in Taipei and Taiwan’s public library sector.

Global Picture Book Center

The Global Picture Book Center focuses on promoting reading for all ages, collecting and showcasing picture books from over 30 countries worldwide to highlight their diversity and richness. In the future, the center will continue to organize various themed picture book exhibitions, demonstrating a broad international perspective. Through picture books, readers will gain a deeper understanding of the diverse cultures, historical backgrounds, and values of different countries and regions, fostering appreciation and respect for global multiculturalism.

Southeast Asia New Immigrant Services

In response to the increase in new immigrant groups, we have also started adding multicultural data from Southeast Asia to our library in recent years. In correspondence with the establishment of the new "Multicultural Service Area", we formulated the "Southeast Asian Library Data Development Long/Mid/Short-term Plan" to expand our collection on Southeast Asian multicultural resources. We hope to provide a quality channel of book selection and procurement in order to assist county and city libraries in procuring Southeast Asian books and materials in the future for the reading needs of new immigrants in various counties, cities, townships, and villages. With the subsidies from the Ministry of Education's "Reading Promotion Project", we evaluated the priorities in procuring our library resources in accordance with the Southeast Asian population distribution and number stated above. We are currently actively collecting Southeast Asian books and materials from six languages, including Vietnamese. For the data categories and themes of Southeast Asian countries, we currently have collections from Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Burma, Philippines, and Malaysia in the categories of: books, newspapers, magazines, and audio-visual data for the reading pleasures of Southeast Asians in Taiwan. The scope of our collection includes: spiritual growth, parenting, food, home health care, home design, self-encouragement, language and literature, tourism, and children. Until now, we have a collection of close to 8000 books. The Southeast Asia New Immigrant Collection is located in the foreign language collection area on the fifth floor. Southeast Asian Cultural Exhibitions are held irregularly beside the Senior Exhibition Area on the third floor, including book fairs and cultural fairs.

Indigenous Resource Center

The Indigenous Resource collection was an integral part of our library. In order to enable a complete understanding of Indigenous-related themes, we especially set up an Indigenous Resource Center inside of our Taiwanese Books Section. We have approximately 5,500 representative books in our indigenous collection on the themes of indigenous society, culture, history, clothing, traditions, ceremonies, and photos for the reading pleasures of the general public. Decorations in indigenous styles are added to the sides and top of the shelves for easy identification. Additionally, reading tables and chairs are provided to plan and conduct indigenous-related book fairs to attract readers to the area, and give them a difference reading experience. In the future, more books and materials regarding indigenous topics will be added, in order to provide the general public a more comprehensive and macroscopic understanding.

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About Our Multicultural Services