To improve the quality of the space in the library and give students a place that that they can love to spend time reading in, this year (‘19) the first floor and fourth floor of the library were remodeled following a “knowledge tree” theme.
At the entrance, an image of the “golden tree” alludes the old Chinese proverb which tells how “golden dwellings are attained by reading”. In the reading area, a minimalist industrial style design expresses “technical” side of the knowledge tree and reflects the university’s mission as a university of science and technology.
The wall in the atrium was designed with images of a tree – its branches extending from the first floor up to the fourth floor to represent the university’s development from its earlier days as the Pingtung Agricultural Institution to its current status as a one of the country’s top universities in its category.
Since 1991, when the library was constructed, until now, 28 years have passed; and in these 28 years the building has allowed knowledge to shine like a light for students at the university pursuing the road to academic success.
In his remarks at the opening ceremony (9/17), NPUST President Chang-Hsien Tai expressed how “advancements in technology have allowed us to obtain intelligent means to make things faster and easier and multimedia development allows us to quickly transmit images and information. However, libraries, as traditional spaces for transmitting knowledge, hold an irreplaceable value. We hope that through improvements in digital knowledge, we can bring in a variety of digital archives, strengthen database searches and overcome the inconveniences associated with hard-copy collections. At the same time, we are preserving the core value of providing a physical reading space and encouraging students to come peruse the library. Allow reading to strengthen your ponderings and enriching your literary thought so that you can become the social leaders of the future”.
The librarian, Shan-Ro Chao, expressed her satisfaction with the completion of the new space for the special opportunity bring in the famous calligraphist Kuo-Yang Li to offer his talent by writing the centerpiece artwork. She explained that “the character for ‘abundance’ (豐) was chosen to represent the rich collection of works and abundance of knowledge” he library has to offer. Changes to the first floor book stack area include the service counter, information retrieval system, theme films collection, NPUST ‘good reads’ – Knowledge is Power display, e-books, and a wide variety of displays.