Hangzhou Public Library launched a program called “enjoyable reading” on WeChat in November 2016, enabling its readers to check out books online and get them delivered to their homes at low prices. Borrowing books from the library is now as simple and convenient as shopping online: click, pay and wait for delivery.
To enjoy the service, one first needs to follow the library's official WeChat account, which provides a list of available books. After picking books, borrowers are required to submit information such as their library membership card number, ID number, cell phone number and delivery address. The selected items will be dispatched by express within three days after payments are made via WeChat. Each reader can borrow up to five books in every transaction and a maximum of 20 books in total at a time. For each book transaction, the delivery fee is only three RMB ($0.4) for three or less books, and one RMB for each additional book. The books on loan can be collected and returned by express service at the same cost.
Readers now can borrow the library's most popular books from this platform. The online book stacks will be renewed and enriched gradually according to readers' borrowing habits and preferences. With a collection of more than four million books, the library also inked an agreement with the local State-owned Xinhua bookstores, which will provide up to five copies of its latest books for online borrowers.
