Chinese experts on computer science, architecture and library science studied a tentative plan for extending the National Library of China and building a digital library, in Beijing on Monday.

The National Library houses 23.11 million books, 3.11 million more than its designed capacity.

Over 12,000 readers visit the library daily, well surpassing its capacity of 7,000. Many readers have to sit in the aisles when the number of visitors reach its peak during weekends and holidays.

Deputy Minister of Culture Zhou Heping said that building a digital library is extremely important for the development of Chinese libraries as a whole. "It is a grand project of the nation, " he said.

Zhou said that the national digital library will set a framework for other libraries in the country, thereby preventing the construction of redundant projects.

Zhang Bo, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said, "The new library will help satisfy demands of all kinds. We have scant electronic Chinese resources at the moment, when 90 percent of the electronic scientific literature is in foreign languages."

According to the tentative plan, the project budget will hit 1. 25 billion yuan (about US$150 million), 0.72 billion yuan of which will be for the extension work and 0.53 billion for the digital library.

Upon completion, the National Library will be able to house 35 million books and receive 16,600 visitors a day. In addition, it will be able to serve some 10 million web users a day through the 20-TB digital library.

Chen Jiyue, a senior engineer at IPPR Engineering International, which is responsible for the plan, said that the extension will be carried out on a lot north of the present library, with state investment.

He added that the library will hold a public bidding for the two projects after the plan is approved by the government.

The National Library will hold an international symposium on digital libraries in July, which representatives from the British Library and the US Library of Congress will attend.

(Xinhua News Agency April 2, 2002)