Abstract:

Chen Ying emphasizes that during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period, the nationwide library community should align with the requirements of the new era to better fulfill their responsibilities of creating positive energy and promoting mainstream values. Libraries must enhance the preservation and utilization of Chinese classics, invigorating traditional Chinese culture with renewed vitality. The implementation of the “National Smart Library System” project, leveraging digital and intelligent technologies to improve service quality, is essential. Furthermore, libraries should act as the primary venue for promoting nationwide reading, contributing to the creation of a reading-friendly society and a culturally strong nation. Chen Chao positions public libraries as “the people’s university” and “the people’s palace”, functioning as both knowledge and social infrastructure. During this transformative period marked by global restructuring, public libraries must go beyond addressing literacy and the digital divide through reading services to help tackle broader social issues, fostering social equity, inclusion, and harmony. Mao Yajun, from five perspectives—urban-rural integration and community-oriented services; socialized education and societal re-education; deep integration and multifunctionality; precise intelligence and data visualization; new think tank development and distinctive branding—outlines a vision for the “15th Five-Year Plan”. She suggests that public libraries should be guided by high-level positioning, adopt integrated development as a pathway, and employ global perspectives and strategic thinking to construct a modernized library system with Chinese characteristics. Zhang Bingmei identifies two major challenges for libraries during the “15th Five-Year Plan” period: artificial intelligence and the involvement of social forces. Libraries must adhere to their core mission of document collection and preservation, adapt to new tools like AI, effectively utilize them, and refocus their efforts on their societal education responsibilities. Fang Jiazhong begins with a situational analysis, summarizing new goals, tasks, and requirements for public libraries during the “15th Five-Year Plan”. Using the “elements theory” from library science, he identifies new elements and values in library development. Applying systems theory frameworks involving elements, structure, and functions, he proposes that libraries should expand new momentum and functions by focusing on structural innovation, thereby enhancing their role and influence. Peng Yin suggests that provincial public libraries should explore “cross-boundary integration”, “unlimited possibilities”, and “organic growth”. They should prioritize local document resource system construction, strengthen collection resource updates, extend outreach to create innovative reading experiences, and foster a new path for cultivating interdisciplinary talent by reinforcing the development of key library personnel.Chu Shuqing argues that public libraries should proactively respond to the challenges and opportunities of the “15th Five-Year Plan” by exploring professionalized and socialized operational models, constructing public cultural communities, deepening library industry consortiums, empowering smart development with technology, and fully fulfilling their societal education mission. Zhang Yan highlights that urban public libraries, when planning for the future, should align with national and local cultural strategies. They should adopt a goal-oriented, problem-solving, and demand-driven approach to planning visions, principles, missions, and action plans at both institutional and citywide service system levels. Furthermore, She proposes specific ideas from two angles: how new situations require new mechanisms, and how new mechanisms can spark new vitality. Wang Hai recommends that public libraries focus on three priorities during the “15th Five-Year Plan”: ensuring equitable access by promoting the balanced development of public library services, restructuring and enriching the content of public cultural services, and enhancing sustainability through improved library operation models.