The LCSD provides free public library services to meet community needs for information, research, informal education and the profitable use of leisure time as well as to promote reading and the literary arts. It also manages the Books Registration Office.

    The Hong Kong Public Libraries system provides a network of 70 public libraries, including the newly opened Fanling Public Library and Fu Shan Public Library. The library collection in 2002 consisted of 8.51 million books and 1.05 million multimedia materials. There were a total of 2.77 million registered borrowers, who checked out 53.27 million items of library materials during the year. Staff handled 3.76 million reference enquiries.

Hong Kong Central Library

Overlooking Victoria Park in the heart of Causeway Bay, the Hong Kong Central Library is a major information and cultural centre in Hong Kong. Occupying a gross floor area of 33 800 square metres with a total stock of 1 633 405 books, the 12-storey building provides a wide range of facilities. Special features include a Multimedia Information System, a Central Reference Library with six subject departments, an Arts Resource Centre, Hong Kong Literature Room, Basic Law Reference Collection Room, Map Library, Language Learning Centre, Young Adult Library and a Toy Library. There are also hiring facilities including a 1 500 square-metre Exhibition Gallery, a 293-seat Lecture Theatre, two Activity Rooms, a Music Practice Room and a number of Discussion Rooms.

    By year-end, the Hong Kong Central Library had attracted a total of 8 821 114 visitors since its opening in May 2001, with an average daily attendance of about 16 000. In addition to a wide range of cultural activities and regular subject talks, the library has organised notable events such as a 'Lecture Series on Humanities, Science and Technology by Contemporary Eminent Scholars', which was hosted by prominent scholars, and a 'Seminar Series on Hong Kong History' hosted by leading scholars and local historians.

    The library launched two major projects in its first year. The Document Collection Campaign appealed to collectors and the public to donate literary treasures to the library to help set up a special collection to promote local research and advanced studies in Hong Kong. Over 70 000 items have been collected, including rare books, periodicals, letters, manuscripts, maps, old legal documents and documents on folk etiquette. The Music Collection Campaign, which is a joint project with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council and the Composers and the Authors Society of Hong Kong, appealed to local musicians, record companies and the public to donate music items for setting up a music databank.

Reference and Information Services

Reference and information services are provided at the Central Library and the five major libraries — the City Hall, Kowloon, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun Public Libraries. The Central Reference Library has a total collection of 680 000 items, providing comprehensive reference and information services through its six subject departments. It features a comprehensive collection of electronic materials including CD-ROMs, online databases, electronic books, electronic journals and multimedia programmes, all of which are available for online access by the public. The library also holds the depository collection of books required under the Books Registration Ordinance.

Multimedia Service

Computer and information centres are provided at the Hong Kong Central Library, five major libraries and most of the district libraries. The workstations provided in these centres are installed with commonly used computer applications, such as software for word processing, database management, spreadsheet, presentation programmes, graphics and publishing tools in order to promote computer literacy among library readers that will assist them in using computer technology in their daily life. Other static libraries have multimedia workstations that provide access to the Internet and multimedia databases and, in addition, audio and visual facilities are provided in the major and district libraries.

Library Automation

The public library system is fully computerised. The library automation system supports over 1 200 terminals and is one of the world's largest computerised library systems with both Chinese and English capabilities. It provides 24-hour daily Internet library services for readers to search library holdings, renew their borrowed items and reserve library materials. In 2002, readers used the Internet library service a total of 49 554 178 times, representing an increase of 496 per cent over the previous year. The public library's home page has the third highest usage rate among government home pages. The library automation system also offers telephone renewal and borrower record enquiry services. Readers can now borrow and return library materials at any of the branch libraries. Self-charging terminals are being installed at all libraries. Plans are in hand to enhance the library automation system so that readers may use the new 'smart' ID cards, to be issued by the Government from mid-2003, as library cards.

Multimedia Information System

A Multimedia Information System (MMIS) has been developed for the Hong Kong Central Library. It provides audio and video on demand, online CD-ROM and reference resources, and searching and document viewing services through the library's workstations and the Internet. Materials of various formats including old local newspapers, books, photographs, maps, government documents, clippings, manuscripts, posters, and house programmes of local cultural presentations are readily available. The system also enables patrons to book the use of the library's workstations a week in advance. This service has been extended to the Internet since October for readers to access information at home, in school or at the office. The MMIS has won a number of local and overseas awards. These included the silver award presented by the Hong Kong Computer Society in the application category of its IT Excellence Awards 2001 and the award of the Best of the E-government and Service category in the Asia Pacific Information and Communication Technology Awards 2002 presented by the Malaysian Government. It was also a finalist in the Stockholm Challenge Award.

Support of Lifelong Learning

The public libraries have collaborated with the Education Department in organising the 'Library Cards for All School Children Scheme', a programme that aims to encourage primary school pupils to fully utilise public library resources in pursuit of lifelong learning. Library staff members have also held regular liaison meetings with school librarians to explore ways to support school curriculum forums. The Open University of Hong Kong has deposited its course materials in 15 public libraries. The public libraries continue to provide supporting library services to the Project Yi Jin education programme. Plans are also under way to set up a Business and Industry Reference Library and an Education Resources Centre at the City Hall Public Library and the Kowloon Public Library, respectively.

Outreach Programmes and Promotion of Literary Arts

Outreach programmes form an integral part of library services. Educational and recreational programmes are organised on a continuing basis to promote library facilities and services, cultivate lifelong reading habits and enhance the public's appreciation of the importance of free access to up-to-date information. Programmes including children's hours, book displays and exhibitions, seminars and thematic talks, interest clubs and group visits were organised throughout the year. User education sessions, such as teaching the public how to search the Online Public Access Catalogue, online databases, the Internet and CD-ROMs, were held regularly. In 2002, the libraries organised a total of 17 451 library outreach programmes.

    The public libraries also play an active role in promoting the literary arts. Major literary competitions organised during the year included the Awards for Creative Writing in Chinese, the Chinese Poetry Writing Competition, Hong Kong Biennial Awards for Chinese Literature, Competition on Story Writing in Chinese for Students and the 4th Hong Kong Literature Festival which was jointly organised with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council. The winning entries in the competitions were published for sale to promote creative writing. So far, the public libraries have published 97 Chinese literary books.

Promotion of Reading

Reading programmes have been launched by the libraries to encourage children and young people to cultivate good reading habits, with reading-related activities organised for participants. During the year, the libraries organised the Story Kingdom exhibition and series of children's programmes to stimulate reading among children and to encourage parents' participation in this. Teens' Book Clubs were organised in the Hong Kong Central Library and five other major libraries. Schools were invited to nominate students to participate in the clubs. The public libraries continued to cooperate with the Po Leung Kuk, the Education Department and Hong Kong IT Education City in organising the 'Read to Enjoy' programme which provided mobile library services to 300 schools without library facilities. The 'Ten Recommended Good Books' programme was launched by the public libraries together with Radio Television Hong Kong.

    The libraries provide block loans of books and audio cassettes to non-profit-making organisations, rehabilitation and penal institutions, homes for the aged, and the physically handicapped. The block loan service is also available to schools.

    A Book Donation and Sale Campaign was launched for the first time to encourage the public to read more books. The campaign also encouraged people to share their books with others and to support recycling. The response was encouraging. About 140 000 books were collected and $330,000 was raised from the sale of the donated books on behalf of the Community Chest. The unsold books were donated to local libraries/organisations.

Services for the Disabled

The libraries provide a wide range of services and facilities for people with disabilities. The special needs of the disabled were taken into account in the design of the Hong Kong Central Library, and adequate access for the disabled is provided in all new libraries and most of the existing libraries. A hotline is provided for people with disabilities, and block loans are arranged for organisations caring for the disabled. A collection of English fiction in large print is provided for the visually impaired and elderly readers at five major libraries. A reading machine for the blind and a colour image magnifier are available at Hong Kong Central Library and branch libraries have facilities to assist the visually impaired in using computers.

Library Initiatives

In February, the libraries launched a CD-ROM lending service. Since January, the opening hours of the Hong Kong Central Library have been extended from 68 hours to 74 hours a week. In addition to the regular Customer Liaison Meetings held in the libraries, an opinion survey on the Hong Kong public library services was conducted in December 2001. The survey showed that 81.2 per cent of adult library users were satisfied with the overall facilities and services of the public libraries.

Exchange Programme

During the year, the Hong Kong Central Library arranged programmes for exchanging publications with a number of overseas major libraries and cultural organisations, as well as some in the Mainland. A professional librarian from Shenzhen Library was attached to Hong Kong Central Library for one month to study the library's operation and its diversified services. Professional library staff members have participated in overseas library conferences such as the World Library Summit in Singapore and the Asian Library Conference on Collection Development in Penang, Malaysia.

Books Registration Office

The main functions of the Books Registration Office are to help preserve Hong Kong's literary heritage through the registration of local publications and to monitor the use of the International Standard Book Number (ISBN) system. A Catalogue of Books Printed in Hong Kong is published quarterly by the Books Registration Office in the Government Gazette, which can be accessed through the Internet. In 2002, the office registered a total of 11 900 books and 12 923 periodicals, and 517 new publisher prefixes conforming to the ISBN.