The Guangzhou Library, established by the Guangzhou Municipal Government, was created for the benefit of the general welfare, and serve as a culture and education institution. The library’s services are based on collecting, organizing, and reserving all categories of written knowledge and information including paper-based materials, audio-visual materials, and digital materials. The library offers lending of materials, reference and information service, exhibitions and lectures, art appreciation, cultural display, Internet service and spaces for learning, research and communication. The library also holds various kinds of reading promotion activities.

The new Guangzhou Library is one of Guangzhou’s construction projects of high priority and one of the cultural projects benefiting the people in Guangzhou. The project was initiated in 2004 and two years later the foundation was laid. The new library was partially opened on December 28, 2012 and completely opened on June 23, 2013. The library is situated on Huacheng Square, the brand-new downtown of Guangzhou, being known as the city’s “living room”, facing the Canton Tower. Remarkable buildings nearby include the Guangdong Provincial Museum, the Guangzhou Opera House, and the Guangzhou 2nd Children’s Palace. Together these buildings form a cultural community, and become Guangzhou’s cultural window.

The Guangzhou library covers an area of 21,000 square meters, while the total built-up area reaches 98,000 square meters. It comprises a ten-storied North Tower and an eight-storied South Tower, with two floors underground. The library is so far one of the largest city libraries in the world. The library adopts “Beautiful Books” as the design concept, ranging from east to west, the north and south towers form an elegant shape of Chinese character “之”. The cascading slate on the facade represents overlapping books and the accumulation of history and culture. At the same time, the design integrates the typical architectural concept of Cantonese arcade, expressing the style of Lingnan architecture. In 2011, the Guangzhou Library was selected as one of the new “100 Attractions of Guangzhou”. With the idea of “Connect the Worldwide Wisdom, Enrich the Reading Life”, the Guangzhou Library is committed to become a people-oriented metropolitan library. To be specific, the Guangzhou Library aims to facilitate the construction of regional library network and to function as an urban cultural landmark, a space for lifelong learning, a hub for information and knowledge, and a platform for public communication and multicultural exchange. Based on the concept of “Rational, Open, Equal, Inclusive”, the Guangzhou Library’s mission is becoming an inclusive public space where reading, sharing and exchanging ideas, and communication can take place, while promoting innovative and rational thinking so as to cultivate a harmonious atmosphere in the community.