Students are reading in the library of henan university of economics and law Longzihu Campus. Zuo Dongchen photo/bright picture
The sunset is sinking, the forest is lined with trees, and the afterglow is sprinkled between the blue tiles and red bricks. The old library lying at the foot of Yuelu Mountain looks quaint and elegant. Ren Peng, a doctoral student at Hunan University, always likes to choose this time to study here, wandering among them and making friends with the ancients. "The atmosphere of the library is very enjoyable. Reading without a purpose can really enter the aesthetic state." Ren Peng said with emotion, "But there are not many people who like to read paper books now. Everyone is more accustomed to using mobile phones and computers to read electronic materials."
This year’s "Government Work Report" once again emphasizes "deepening the reading activities of the whole people", and college students’ reading has also attracted attention from all walks of life. Recently, the topic of "The borrowing volume of paper books in university libraries is obviously declining, do college students not like reading?" has caused a heated discussion on the Internet. Some people think this is a normal phenomenon, and some people are worried about it. What are the reasons behind this phenomenon? How can university libraries mobilize various resources to add strength to jointly build a scholarly campus?
Spring blossoms, it is time to study. The reporter walked into the university campus and visited stories about reading.
Do college students really stop reading?
Ren Peng is a 23-year-old science student majoring in control science and engineering, but he is very interested in literature and history books. He borrows about 10 books from the library every year. The reporter randomly asked several college students of the same age as Ren Peng, and found that they borrowed no more than 10 books on average every year. Some people admitted that they had never borrowed books within one year.
What is the volume of books borrowed by college students? According to the annual reading report of Hunan University Library, the circulation of books in the library in 2019, 2021 and 2022 is about 530,000, 350,000 and 260,000 respectively. The reporter also checked the total number of books lent by Sun Yat-sen University Library from 2019 to 2022, which were about 680,000, 520,000 and 370,000 respectively. According to relevant data, the number of books borrowed by Kunming Medical University, Southwest University of Science and Technology and other universities is also gradually decreasing. In 2022, the development report of university libraries in Jiangsu Province has clear statistics. The average number of paper books and periodicals borrowed by the library decreased from 98,200 in 2017 to 35,800 in 2022, showing a continuous decreasing trend.
"It is normal that the number of paper books borrowed in colleges and universities is gradually decreasing." Professor Wang Junchao, Dean of the School of Journalism and Communication in Tsinghua University, is a library culture enthusiast. Before he entered the university to teach, he also worked as a "reporter" who contacted the National Library.He believes that with the continuous enrichment of electronic resources in university libraries, students can acquire knowledge and information quickly, and the amount of paper books will naturally decrease, but this does not directly prove that college students do not like reading."For example, many of the reference materials I ask students to read in class will provide electronic versions or online links."
Ren Peng will also use electronic products to browse learning materials and obtain information resources. "E-books are very convenient, occupying neither space nor paying extra. You can read books for free with the campus reading software, and you can save good articles into your mobile phone with your fingers. " He said.
While the borrowing of paper books is decreasing, the reading of e-books is increasing rapidly.Take chinese numerals resource download of Hunan University as an example, it was 9.05 million times in 2021 and 23.57 million times in 2022. According to the survey on "College Students’ Reading Situation" published by Zhejiang Social Science Association in 2022, the average reading volume of paper books and e-books for college students in Zhejiang Province is 8.48 and 13.5 respectively.
However, Li Guo, a student at Wuhan University, found that many people around him were not interested in deep reading, and the "short, flat and fast" and economical electronic products were more likely to make people addicted.
"Paper reading and electronic reading have their own advantages and disadvantages, but long-term’ fragmented reading’ is worthy of vigilance." Liu Ge, director of China National Reading Research Center of Hunan University, thinks.
"Some websites, WeChat official account and short video platforms will provide information that is easy to understand and does not require too much thinking in order to capture traffic, but complete, systematic and in-depth discussions and works are not common." Liu Ge said that in the long run, these fragmented information will damage students’ reading concentration, raise their reading stimulation threshold, and even make people become lazy in reading, reduce their ability to understand classic books, resulting in narrow knowledge structure and shallow knowledge reserves.
Students are reading in the library of Beijing Foreign Studies University. Xinhua news agency
Why is the borrowing volume of books declining?
During the visit, the reporter found that while the number of books borrowed from colleges and universities declined, the number of people entering the library remained high. In many libraries, the phenomenon of "one library is hard to find" often appeared, and some students started the mode of "grabbing seats online in the early morning", making "soaking in the library" a normal life.
So, what are college students "immersed" in the library doing?
Huang Xiaoling, a teacher of Hunan University Library, has worked in the library for more than 30 years. She observed that about half of the students studying in the library are preparing for the exam. "There is an established study room in the museum, which opens at 6: 30 in the morning and closes at 10: 30 in the evening. Seats are often in short supply."
Wang Qiong, director of the library of Beijing Normal University, found that the students who entered the library learned independently the most, followed by borrowing books and conducting seminars and other activities. "We have prepared a locker for students. Among the readers who applied for the locker in autumn, the number of people who stated the purpose of postgraduate entrance examination accounted for 31% of all applicants. "
Many interviewees admitted that college students are facing many practical pressures at present, and some people are more willing to devote their time to things with strong "practicality" such as exams and internships. They think that borrowing books from the library and reading without purpose can not bring tangible benefits in a short time.
At the same time, for those who want to borrow books from the library, the process of borrowing books is not smooth sailing.
As a frequent visitor to the library, Li Guo is very concerned about the development of the library. She teases herself as a "suggestion expert" and often puts forward specific suggestions for improving the quality of library services, such as "new books are slow to be put on shelves" and "I can’t find the books I want to read".
"I really wanted to read books on women’s literature before, but the inspection shows that the books I want to borrow have been in order; Sometimes if you want to find different versions of books, you will find that they are not complete; The works of some foreign minority writers are even rarer. " Li Guo said.
Huang Xiaoling is also very touched by this: "Sometimes, the funds for purchasing paper books are limited, but there are many new books published every year. In order to meet the demands of students, we will buy more digital resources as a supplement on the basis of’ preserving varieties and reducing duplicates’. For example, one or two copies of a new book are sometimes placed in the main campus, but may not be distributed in the sub-campuses. If students can’t check it, they have to do alternative reading through document delivery or e-books. "
Through interviews and literature review, the reporter learned that when books are put on the shelves, if there is no borrowing amount within a certain period of time, they will be defined as "zero borrowing" books, which are directly related to the supply and demand and distribution of collection resources.
Taking the collection of books in a normal school in the west as an example, in order to expand the coverage of books, the school has increased professional books such as industrial technology and medical and health care, but the books do not match the reading needs and professional adaptability of most readers, resulting in a structural imbalance between supply and demand of books. The borrowing amount of related books is less, which becomes a "sleeping" resource, which brings double waste of storage space and capital cost.
Some interviewees also said that there are some common problems in improving service and promoting development in university libraries, such as the pressure of "talents" and "funds".
"The number of staff in the editorial staff is decreasing year by year, the age is relatively large, and there are insufficient professionals. Some expanding and innovative businesses need professional talents to undertake, which affects the development of the business in the museum to some extent. " Huang Xiaoling said.
"There is some pressure on the library to purchase all kinds of documents." Wang Qiong believes that on the one hand, it takes a lot of manpower to carry out research and statistical analysis to select literature resources suitable for the development of disciplines and the needs of teaching and scientific research; On the other hand, the purchase price of database has increased sharply, which makes the original tight literature funds stretched. When purchasing foreign language databases, the change of exchange rate will also affect the collection decision.
A corner of Chongqing University Library. Sun Kaifang photo/bright picture
Let "ten thousand mu of book fields" nourish young students
Ren Peng also has the time of "borrowing books but not allowed". Once, he especially wanted to borrow a management book, and searched for it in the main library and branch library for a long time, but found nothing. A few days later, he found that an activity-"Flash Borrowing of New Books" was launched in the library’s WeChat WeChat official account. He curiously clicked on the web page, entered his personal student number and password, followed the prompts to search for the title of the book and place an order, and even ordered it for free! He received the new book two days later.
It is understood that after upgrading the "new book flash loan" service in Hunan University Library, readers can choose their own books online, and the procurement costs are borne by the library. After receiving the new books, readers can read them and return them to the library within 30 days. The reporter learned that Henan University, Southeast University and other universities have also carried out similar activities, tailoring the service model of "you borrow books and I pay the bill" for teachers and students, and improving the service quality in the library while meeting individual needs.
How to further optimize the procurement process? Wang Qiong suggested that a book selection team should be composed of subject experts and readers’ representatives to provide professional advice and ensure the academic and use value of books. Pay attention to the development of emerging disciplines in time to improve the advanced and timeliness of library collection. Use big data information, such as borrowing volume and reading preference, to provide reference for purchasing decisions and meet the needs of discipline development. In addition, through the integration of paper and electricity procurement, increase the number of e-books to respond to readers’ requirements and adapt to the reading needs of the information age.
Huang Xiaoling was particularly impressed by an activity: "The school invited an expert from the Beijing legal field to give a lecture, and the scene was packed at that time. The reading statistics of the month show that the borrowing volume of legal books has increased to a certain extent compared with usual, which also shows that students’ reading interest has certain guidance. "
The reporter found that guiding students to participate in campus activities can promote the revitalization of library resources and expand reading space.For example, Beijing Normal University once held the activity of "Deep Lane Good Books" for "Zero Lending" books, and some "old books" with profound thoughts and profound connotations shook off dust and reappeared brilliance, attracting students’ attention. Another example is the "Knowledge Competition on Chinese Civilization" launched by Peking University Library, which guides students to review their knowledge and read extensively, thus enhancing their cultural self-confidence.
"We need to consider how to establish an organic connection between readers, authors and texts, so as not to make young people feel’ alienated’ when reading, but only to find chapters and sentences and even look at the text." Wang Junchao believes that the library can hold more activities such as editing and reading meetings, sharing meetings, opinion debates and new book promotion, and can also build a "physical public sphere" leading the cultural construction of colleges and universities through innovative book concepts such as "real-life library".
In 2021, the Ministry of Education proposed to encourage a group of colleges and universities to pilot the construction of "future learning centers" to provide opportunities for the digital transformation of university libraries. "We should innovate in providing high-quality digital resources and building smart libraries according to the needs of future teaching and scientific research, so as to build a new learning space integrating personalized smart services, professional teaching support and diversified learning scenarios." Wang Qiong is full of expectations.
From a national perspective, relevant policy initiatives are gradually improving: in 2020, Publicity Department of the Communist Party of China issued the Opinions on Promoting Reading for All; In 2023, eight departments, including the Ministry of Education, issued the National Youth Students Reading Action Implementation Plan. In addition, the state has also set up special funds, innovated service carriers, established long-term mechanisms and other ways to unite various social forces, provide fresh water for young people to focus on reading, and make the "10,000 mu of book fields" in colleges and universities more vibrant.
(Source: Guangming Daily)
