Technology will guide users at Jinwan District Library

The new Jinwan District Library will open to visitors by the October First National Day holiday with a vast holding of 700,000 books, Aviation-Themed Reading Zone, and "Smart" reading environment.

The city's largest public library, the 230 million-yuan ($32-million) building has floorage of more than 28,000 sq m (7 acres). It has four floors aboveground and one below on Jinfan Avenue west of Yinghe Road and north of Zhuhai Golden Gulf Golf Club. It and the companion Jinwan District Comprehensive Archive Building form part of the Public Cultural Center of Aviation New Town.

At the entrance is a 7.5-m (24.6-ft) tall and 5-m (16.4-ft) wide LED screen. It allows users to check a ranking of the most-frequently borrowed books, statistics of loans and returns, and recommendations based on big data.

Inside, all 69 "smart" bookshelves have touch screens and reader's card/book induction panels to show the location of books and the borrow and return formalities.

Those looking for audio resources will find them in the Audio-Visual Reading Zone on the second floor. Some of the reading rooms have energy-saving acoustic control lights.

The Aviation-Themed Reading Zone on the third floor reflects the characterized industry of Jinwan, home to Zhuhai (Jinwan) Airport. It will house professional books and host lectures on aerospace knowledge and airplane model-making and virtual reality activities.

E-book readers can use checkout machines along the corridors of the second and third floors by downloading an app or scanning corresponding QR codes. Currently, there are 3,000 books on hand and the list will be updated monthly. The previous 200-ranked books will be replaced by new ones.

Also in-house are children and teenage reading areas, a 24-hour self-service library, and lecture hall. The lobby, which covers more than 1,700 sq m (.4 acres), will be used for photo and artifact exhibitions.