Rural Libraries in China: Towards Educational and Informational Equality of Population

Abstract

The article discusses the policy of the People’s Republic of China to expand, develop and modernize the network of rural libraries, introduce new standards of activity and innovative forms of work aimed at equalizing the imbalance between the city and village by increasing the cultural and educational level and overcoming the information poverty of local residents. The author characterizes the government programs of the People’s Republic of China in this area, adopted over the past two decades: “Cultural Information Resource Sharing Project” (2002), “Comprehensive Cultural Station Construction Project” (2006), “Farmer’s Reading Rooms Project” (2007), “Working Opinions on the Promotion of the National Art Gallery, Public Library, Cultural Centres and Stations Free to All” (2011), “Public Electronic Reading Room Construction Plan” (2012), “Support Plan for Libraries in Poor Areas” (2014), as well as the “Plan for Modernizing the System of Providing Public Services in the Sphere of Culture” and the “National Program for Promoting Reading” for 2015—2020. The article considers the structure of the library network in rural regions of China and the functions of its structural units, financing and human resources of rural libraries, the organization of stationary and extension library services, the requirements for premises, collections, technical equipment and the provision of remote access to information sources. Special attention is paid to the implementation of programs in rural regions of the country to promote digital reading and connect libraries to the services of the National Digital Library (under the guidance of the National Library of China). The article outlines the main problems existing in rural libraries of the People’s Republic of China, and the ways of their solution proposed by Chinese specialists. The author emphasizes that the Chinese experience may be of interest to Russia, taking into account the challenges facing our country in sustainable development of rural areas, which is not feasible without improving the standard of living of the rural population and providing it with high-quality educational, cultural and information services.