Four vice curators of the Beijing-based library -- Zhang Yanbo, Zhang Yafang, Chen Li and Zhang Xiaoxing -- were present at the information desk this morning to welcome readers.

The library's new website homepage was also launched Sunday with a new research system for borrowing books. Readers can send their requests from home via the Internet and in half an hour can collect their desired books from the library to save the time of waiting there.

Two exhibitions and eight lectures are scheduled during the festival month. A speech contest on the library's collection and an essay contest for young readers will also be staged.

Founded in 1909 and originally named Capital Library, the National Library of China has more than 22 million books, with the earliest collection dating back 700 years ago.

The library, the largest in Asia, holds the world's fifth largest book collection and is visited by nearly 10,000 readers every day. Visits to its website, www.nlc.gov.cn, exceed 100 million annually.

(People's Daily December 3, 2002)