The Zhongshan Wanyou Yinli Bookstore set up a special service desk for the campaign. [Photo by Sun Junjun]

The 2019 "Government-Paid Books for Citizens" Campaign, which has drawn a lot of reader attention, kicked off in recent days. Readers can now borrow or buy their favorite books from many physical bookstores and online book buying platforms with the library cards of the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library and its branches. The expenses incurred in purchasing books and mailing books purchased online are even covered by the campaign. The total budget for this year's campaign is up to 3 million yuan.

The campaign has been run for four consecutive years. Readers holding a valid library card issued by the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library or the branch libraries in towns (districts) may select books from 5 bookstores (Pok Art Bookstore, Changxin Bookstore, Wanyou Yinli Bookstore, Xiaolan Books Center and Xinhua Bookstore). They only need their library card to go through the book lending procedures on the site according to relevant regulations without paying any fees.

In order to enrich the campaign, "Love Network Borrowing" was added this year. Starting June 15, readers can log into the online book selection platforms through the website of Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library, Alipay or WeChat to select and purchase books. After finishing reading, they may return the books to the Sun Yat-sen Memorial Library, branch libraries in 24 towns (districts), the Haizhou Branch in Guzhen, or the Changzhou Branch in West District.

It should be noted that the available books include paperback Chinese versions that are priced less than 200 yuan and published by official publishing organizations in China after 2016. Each reader may use their library card to borrow up to 20 books per month.

Newspapers, magazines, textbooks, teaching-aid books and similar publications do not apply to this campaign.