Library Services

PKU Main Library

• < style="text-align:left;font-weight:normal;margin-top:6pt;margin-bottom:0pt;" >Peking University Library was founded in 1902. The collection held by the library amounts to 4,610,000 items. In addition, there are many modern documents like audio-visual material, CD-ROMs, and databases in many disciplines. The new library building is located on the bank of the beautiful Unnamed Lake (Weiming Hu). It opened at the end of 1998. The total building area amounts to 51,000 square meters, with 4,000 seats. The collection capacity has reached 6,500,000 items, making it the biggest university library in Asia.

  Peking University library is a comprehensive research library on a large scale and is well-known both in China and abroad. It has broad international exchanges with more than 500 foreign libraries, schools, and research institutes which are keeping steady interchanges of materials and interlibrary book loans from Peking University Library.

  The library holds 1,500,000 ancient items, including 170,000 items of rare books, and 11,547 kinds of periodicals published before 1949, totaling 27,650 issues, 605 pre-1949 newspaper titles, totaling 9,644 issues. Among them, thousands are rare or one-of-a-kind. Peking University Library also holds approximately 24,000 kinds, comprising 56,000 copies, of rubbings from inscriptions on ancient bronzes and stone tablets. This collection now ranks the first of all China's academic libraries.

  When the new library opened, high-tech facilities have been installed to provide efficient and convenient services. The CD-ROM and online searching area located on the first floor is a window of Peking University Library's modernization. It contains more than one hundred workstations with tower model CD drivers and jukebox, and more than 100 kinds of academic CD-ROMs. The library also introduces into many famous foreign online databases and E-journals, and provides MARC, CD-ROM and international online database searching, problem searching, thesis and retrieval.

  The services offered by the library have greatly improved teaching and research in Peking University. The online searching terminals, information and reference area, exhibiting room for books and periodicals, and reception room are located on the first floor. The humanity and social science books reading area, natural science reading area, periodical reading area, Taiwan document center and the American study center are located on the second to fifth floors. The training center and computer rooms are located on the sixth floor.

  On the two-floor basement are the collection of ancient books and rooms for air-conditioning and electronic facilities. In contrast to the central building, the two wing buildings are dynamic in function, making the new library a well organized and integrated unit. The audio-visual center is located in the south wing, and video room is in the basemen. The north wing contains the academic auditorium, and below that is a multi-function hall. In the old building, the general circulation desk is located on the second floor, the reserved copy reading room is located on the third floor, and the newspaper and literature and art periodicals reading room is located on the fourth floor. The south area is for students' individual study. It offers a comfortable and quiet environment for readers. The entire library is laid out conveniently, and has all the necessary functions to provide many kinds services such as reference, reading, lending, information searching, user training, interlibrary loan, document printing, duplicating and binding.

  The library has Departments of Acquisition, Cataloging, Periodicals, Circulation and reading, Information Reference, Automation, Ancient Book Collection, Audio-visual Materials, and Document Services. The administrative offices are Director's Office, Office of General Affairs, and the Safeguard Department.

1. Building Hours

Monday-Sunday    6:30 - 22:30

2. Main Service Areas

Monday-Sunday    8:00 - 22:00

3. Holidays and Vacations

For holidays and vacations, please refer to the special notice on library homepage.

4. Main Service Tel.: 86-10-62751051; Fax: 86-10-62761008

Website: https://www.lib.pku.edu.cn/portal/en

• Search/loan/download items at the Library

  Please visit the library’s website https://www.lib.pku.edu.cn/portal/en for resources for all subjects. PKU and SIS library provides fully networked computer services for PKU students.

  E2-1 on the second floor is the open-stack humanity and social science reading room where you can find and borrow recently-published Chinese and English books. If you need to borrow books of humanity and social science published before 1993, you have to go to the Closed-shelves Book Loans Desk（闭架借书处) at the Sunshine Hall（阳光大厅） on the 1^st floor to make an order. The library staff will find out the items you required from the repository for you to check them out at the desk.

   

  *Note:

  1) Activate the Library Card: Please note that your Campus Card also functions as your library card. In order to gain access to the library facilities, you will need to activate your library account by submitting your Campus Card and a 500 RMB deposit to the Library Card Office, located at the south east corner of the library (图书馆的证卡室 - 图书馆的东南角，62754246).

  Please keep the receipt of your deposit; you will need it to claim your deposit when you leave the university. Your deposit will be returned to you only after you have presented your ‘Form for Leaving the University’ to the library and have canceled your library account.

  2) Item Limit：According to the library’s rules and regulations, PKU Faculty, Staff, and Graduate Students are eligible to borrow not more than twenty items, including those loaned from School or Department libraries.

  3) Length of Loan: The library’s loan period for books is one month. Some special items may be loaned for special length of time based on certain rules. Students may renew their books in person at the library or online at the library’s website, http://www.lib.pku.edu.cn. Students with overdue loans will be penalized according to the library’s rules and regulations. Each academic department generally has its own zone; you may inquire from your program’s department regarding its facilities and its borrowing-procedures.

  4) Renewals: Materials can be renewed up to twice personally or online, as long as no one else has requested them and the items are not overdue.

  5) Recalls: Materials can be recalled for use by PKU students, faculty and staff. All library materials needed for Reserve can be recalled at any time online. When certain item you recall is available, you may collect it at the General Return/Reserves Desk at the Sunshine Hall on the first floor.

  6) Fines: No service fee is charged during the two day grace period following the actual due date. A fine is assessed for individual books that are 3 or more days overdue. Fines will accrue at a rate of 0.20rmb per day per book until the book is returned. For Graduate students and faculty members, an outstanding fine over 10.00 RMB may result the suspension of their borrowing rights. To pay the bill you need to return or renew the items first, and the payment can be made at Sunny Lobby.

  You are responsible for all books loaned on your record and should point out noticeable damage to books before checking them out. Library books that are returned damaged will be charged a service fee based on the cost of repairing it. If the book were lost, you can buy a new book to be replacement or pay the fine. If the book is out-of-print, you will be charged a non-refundable processing fee of 20.00RMB either ways. Requirements for replacement: Same title, Same author, Same publisher, Same edition (if the same edition cannot be bought, the newer or modified version can be used instead).

   

Note: If you find the lost item after you have replaced the new one, you can take it to library office to cancel the loan and the item can be permanently kept by yourself.

Requirements for paying money:

Chinese books published before 1980,

Book original price x 15

Chinese books published after 1980,

Book original price x 5

Foreign books published before 1980,

Book original price (Book without price is assumed ￥40.00) x 20

Foreign books published after 1980,

Book original price x 10

Note: If you find the lost item later, you can return it and request to give the replacing payment back by showing your payment receipt; but the processing fee is non-refundable.

7) Check out when you leave: Please make sure that you don’t have any more materials loaned from the Libraries before you leave PKU.

E4-1 on the fourth floor of PKU Library is the periodical reading room. You may find both the latest and outdated Chinese and foreign journals of the past 10-15 years in this room. Those journals published before 1995 can be found in Room 409 on the same floor.

*Note:

Unlike books, all the journals at PKU library as well as at SIS library cannot be loaned.

Since last decade, PKU Library has introduced a large number of useful Chinese and foreign online databases as well as E-journals such as DIALOG, EBSCO, UNCOVER, JSTOR, ProQuest, DDRS, DNSA, and others. You may search an item by title and download the file you need via campus intranet.

*Note:

PKU Library’s electronic resources are inaccessible via Off-Campus Internet access.

• Inter-Library Loans (ILL) Service:

  The ILL service aims to obtain items, which are not held in any of the University libraries and are required to support your studies or research. At PKU, this service is available to academic staff and graduate students only.

  The basic steps for ordering an item via ILL are:

  1. Both print and soft copy of the item is not in stock of all the University libraries;

  2. Fill in the request form at the ILL Desk at the Sunshine Hall on the 1^st floor, which is near the south entrance of the library;

  3. Pay the ILL service fee upon the item arrival or in advance (depends on the requirements of different institutions).

      

     For further information on the service content, certain preferential policies, as well as detailed procedures, please browse ILL homepage at:

     https://www.lib.pku.edu.cn/portal/en However, to be more efficient, it is strongly suggested that you contact the Desk directly for guidance or further queries regarding the service. The staff there is friendly to help.

     Contact Information of the ILL Desk:

     Tel:  62759723; Email: ill@lib.pku.edu.cn

     Opening time: 8:00~11:30 13:00~17:00 (Monday to Friday)

• < >Q: Does the library offer any workshops or orientation tours?
• A: The Peking University Library is committed to offering high-quality workshops for students, staff, and faculty on Library resources and services. The workshops are held on Monday and Thursday evening throughout the semester.

The library also welcomes faculty and students to hold their own workshops according to their research interests. If you would like to make an appointment with a librarian, please contact us at 62753504 or email us at onehour@lib.pku.edu.cn. Comprehensive orientation to the library resources and services and guided tours are provided to the new students at the beginning of the autumn semester.

Q: Is there any photocopy service at the library?

A: Yes. Many reading areas and certain public areas (such as the Sunshine Hall) at PKU library provide photocopy as well as binding services, but the prices are reasonably higher than those of the private printing shops on campus.

Q: Does the library provide Internet service?

A: Yes. The Library provides many different kinds of search services, such as a Web site, On-line CD-ROM searching, web database, FTP service, OPAC, Peking University Thesis Collection, Peking University Rubbing Collection, etc.

Q: Does the OPAC include all the catalogues of the library collections?

A: The OPAC now includes foreign languages books catalogued since 1990, normal Chinese books catalogued since 1992, which are more than 300,000 titles in total amounts. The OPAC catalogue of the rare Chinese books still on construction, you have to come to the Rare Books Reading Room to search the card catalogue.

Q: Does the library provide soft copies of the collections online?

A: No. The library does not provide soft copies of the collections so far.

The SIS Library

SIS library locates on the third floor of SIS Building C-Wing (the wing with a conference hall, to the south gate of SIS main building). It has a spacious reading room and studying areas, and a repository of old books, Journals, newspapers as well as a certain amount of special collections. You can enter into the library by showing your Student ID or Campus Card.

Opening time: Monday –Friday 08:00—21:00

For further information, please contact the SIS Library office at 62751393, 62751635.

National Library of China (NLC)

• The NLC at a glance

  The National Library of China (中国国家图书馆) is situated in the West of Beijing. Its predecessor was the Capital Library established in 1909. In 1916 the Library started accepting the legal deposit copies of the national publications. In 1928 the Library got name of the National Beiping Library. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, the Library was renamed Beijing Library. From 1987 the name, National Library of China, has been used in the communication and cooperation with the libraries of other countries. In December 1998, the State Council approved that the Chinese name of the Library is changed to ZhongGuoGuoJiaTuShuGuan (the National Library of China). The National Library of China is a comprehensive research library, a national repository of the home publications, a national bibliographic center, a national center of library information networks, and the library research and development center. The Library serves for central legislature, government, key research institutions, academy, education, business and the general public. The Library is responsible for implementing the official cultural agreements and conducts communication and cooperation with the libraries both at home and abroad. The Library has the total floor area of 170,000 square meters, ranking fifth among the world libraries. By the end of 2003, the Library has a rich collection of 24,1100,000 volumes/items, also ranking fifth among the libraries of the world. In the collection there are 270,000 volumes of rare books, 1,600,000 volumes of general ancient books, 35,000 pieces of the scripted turtle shells and animal bones. The Library not only has the largest collection of Chinese books in the world, but also the biggest collection of materials in foreign languages in the country. It has a strong collection in those materials, such as manuscripts of the notables, revolutionary historical materials, Chinese doctoral dissertations, the UN publications and the increased number of e-publications. The Library opens to the public 365 days a year and its on-line services are available 24 hours a day via its linkage with various multimedia networks and on Internet. 

  Please find further information at http://www.nlc.cn/newen/

• Contact Information & Bus/Subway Routes

  Address：No.33, ZhongguancunNandajie, Haidian District, Beijing, 100081

  (北京海淀区中关村南大街33号中国国家图书馆)

  Consultation Office Tel： (+86 10)88545426、88545360

  Service Supervision：(+86 10) 88545022

  Email：webmaster@nlc.cn

  Buses：319, 320, 332, 634, 645, 653, 716, 717, 727, 732, 804, 808, 814, 827, +T6, Yun Tong105, Yun Tong 106, Yun Tong 205

  Subway: Line 4

  Closest Bus/Subway Station：National Library of China（国家图书馆）

  Note：Please visit Beijing Public Transport (http://www.bjbus.com/home/index.php) for the bus routes in more details.

(Refer to Page 40 on 2019 SIS Handbook for International Master's Programs)