2021-4

SHL’s Go-live

Shanghai Library (SHL) went live on the FOLIO LSP with some of the circulation functions on April 18, 2021. Based on the Goldenrod release (Q1 2020), the Apps were developed by Shanghai Library in collaboration with Jiangsu Jiatu Network Technology Co., Ltd, Shenzhen Ketu Automation New Technology Application Company, Nanjing Younger Information Technology Co.,Ltd, Shanghai We-win Info Tech Co., Ltd, Shanghai RFID Intelligence Digital Technology Corporation, Ltd, Shanghai MiJu Information Technology Co.,Ltd and other companies. SHL is the first public library from China and Asia that is live on FOLIO. It’s planned that Shanghai Library East, the new library building that is under construction, will use the FOLIO circulation App. With a collection of over 56,000,000 books in all languages, SHL is one of the largest public libraries supporting research in China. The Shanghai Library One-card-through Consortium is a consortium of public libraries in the Shanghai area, with about 500 branches and locations and an annual circulation of about 70,000,000. In the next 1-2 years, all the libraries within the consortium plan to go live with the FOLIO circulation App.

Next Generation Library Smart Service Platform Discussion and the Yangtze River Delta Smart Reading Round Table

Sponsored by Shanghai Library (Institute of Scientific and Technological Information of Shanghai) and Suzhou City Department of Culture and Tourism, co-sponsored by Shanghai Library Association, Suzhou Public Library Consortium and Suzhou Library Association, hosted by Suzhou Library, “Next Generation Library Smart Service Platform Discussion and the Yangtze River Delta Smart Reading Round Table” was held at Suzhou Library on April 23, 2021. Over 160 professionals from over 30 provincial and city public libraries, 7 university libraries and 13 IT companies attended this conference onsite. Over 2400 people watched the live broadcasting.

The theme of the conference was “ the transformation of smart libraries”. Attendees discussed the trends of smart reading and services at libraries and the approaches of migrating and transforming to the next generation of smart library service platforms.

Two out of the four featured talks focused on FOLIO: one from Keven Liu, Deputy Director of Shanghai Library and current member of the FOLIO Community Council, on the topic of “Open Library Platform and Community Building: Technological Breakthroughs and Model Innovations” ; the other from Vincent Lee, Manager of Library Service Engineering from EBSCO Information Services, on the topic of “FOLIO Update：the Global Trend and Latest Developments of Open-Source Library Services Platform”. The other two featured talks were “Smart Reading: Trend of Promoting Reading Nationwide” by Huanwen Cheng from China Library Association and “Building Eco-friendly Library Data” by Yunhai Tong from Beijing University Library.

Shanghai Library reported deliverables of their research of the next generation of smart library service platform and demoed the modules currently live on FOLIO at SHL. Modules developed by the IT companies were also demoed.

The talks and demos were followed by a lively and in-depth roundtable discussion. These events promoted the transformation and upgrade of library information systems and enhanced the development of smart and eco-friendly libraries in China.