After 5 years of construction, the anticipated new Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library started a trial run on November 12. [Photo by Sun Junjun]

The new library has a floor area of 57,660 square meters, a collection capacity of 3.2 million books, 2,000 reading seats and a daily reception capacity of up to 8,000 readers. It is a modern library integrating the functions of public reading, information consultation, education and training, academic exchange, cultural heritage, scientific research, exhibition and display, and social services.

At present, the new library only opens its first three floors. The first floor has a children's reading space, a Zhongshan study area, a newspaper reading area and a reading room for the visually impaired. The second floor has the youth reading space and the children multimedia reading room, while the third floor has a comprehensive literature area, a Sun Yat-sen Literature Museum and a Xiangshan Literature Museum.

"The library will also introduce new functions. For example, a seminar room and a tea room will be on the fourth floor, and a music library, a video room, a HIFI room, a recording room and a creative museum on the fifth floor," said the chief librarian Lyu Mei, adding that the 4th to 7th floors of the library will be open to the public half a year later.

On the side of the entrance hall, a slender electronic screen extends from the ceiling to the ground, and colorful book covers "flow" on the screen like a waterfall. This is the Waterfall created by the library.

Standing in front of the electronic screen, clicking the book on the screen, and sweeping the QR code, people can immediately listen to the audio of this book. "The Waterfall contains more than 6,000 hours of audio from five or six hundred books for all ages. More than a dozen books are updated every month to meet reading needs," a technician introduced.

During the trial run, appointment system is adopted for citizens who want to enter the library. Citizens can make an appointment via WeChat (account ID: zslibcn) or telephone (number: 88324502) or at the scene. Walk-in readers will be accommodated according to the actual capacity of the library.