Taichung City's Beitun Library has accompanied local residents for 30 years and reopened with a new look today (17th)! Deputy Secretary-General Da-Chun Chang, representing Mayor Shiu-Yen Lu, attended the opening ceremony and stated that Mayor Lu places great importance on improving reading environments. The city government self-funded nearly NT$12.5 million to upgrade the library, from building seismic reinforcement and RFID smart system implementation to mobile APP self-service book borrowing, creating an age-friendly smart reading environment. The Beitun Library is like a convenience store for books—conveniently located and suitable for all ages—and is expected to provide citizens with a fresh reading experience.

Deputy Secretary-General Chang pointed out that Beitun District's population has exceeded 300,000, ranking among the nation's top ten administrative districts. The population is expected to continue growing with the successive completion of social housing, Taichung Arena, sports center, Taichung Green Museumbrary, and MRT extensions. Mayor Shiu-Yen Lu particularly values reading and cultural development, with the city's artistic and educational budget ranking first among the six special municipalities. Today, the 30-year-old Beitun Library officially reopened and upgraded to a reading space that better meets the needs of all ages. Whether for families with children, senior citizens, or youth, everyone can find suitable reading resources. Simultaneously, the library has enhanced its borrowing facilities, adding mobile book borrowing, RFID smart systems, and other convenient borrowing methods, allowing citizens to enjoy reading more quickly and easily.

Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Chia-Chun Chen noted that Taichung City has fully implemented digital library borrowing services to enhance citizens' book-borrowing convenience. Citizens need only download the "Taichung City Library" or "Taichung Pass" app to easily borrow books, eliminating the complicated traditional borrowing and returning procedures. Additionally, readers can complete borrowing and returning procedures independently through RFID technology, fully demonstrating convenient technological services that make reading more accessible and convenient.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau noted that the Beitun Library is well-loved by Beitun District residents due to its convenient location. To better align the library with modern reading needs, this renovation specifically included seismic reinforcement, comprehensive accessibility facilities, and a building's spatial flow redesign. The library adopts age-specific designs with children's reading areas, young adult reading areas, periodical and newspaper sections, and senior citizen areas, with "life education" as the collection theme. Parents visiting the library today commented, "The first floor has a dedicated children's reading area, family restrooms, and nursing rooms, allowing parents to enjoy reading time with their children comfortably—it's wonderful!" Furthermore, the library has implemented an RFID smart system, providing mobile APP self-service book borrowing and integrating technology into reading for convenience and efficiency.

The Cultural Affairs Bureau explained that the city government actively promotes reading, allocating an annual book procurement budget of NT$100 million since 2022. Besides yearly budget allocations, the city library actively seeks central government subsidies to optimize aging libraries continuously. Additionally, as Beitun District is vast, with a population exceeding 300,000, to provide reading services to the area east of Hanxi River, the city government is collaborating with the Wen-Ying Foundation to build the Xidong Library jointly, expected to be completed and opened in early 2026. This will be the fourth library in Beitun District.

The Taichung City Library explained that to coincide with Beitun Library's reopening, they have planned an opening series of activities called "Reading Dance, Beitun Leap Forward." Besides calligraphy lectures and exhibitions of the four treasures of the study, they are especially collaborating with the local Songzhu Temple to hold a "New Year Reading Blessing" activity where citizens can draw fortune lots and receive safe and auspicious gifts when borrowing books. Many residents expressed their anticipation of participating and thanked the city government for providing such life-enhancing services, making reading an indispensable part of life. Citizens are welcome to visit and experience the Beitun Library's new services! For more details on the activity, please visit the Beitun Library Facebook page (https://pse.is/6th7be).

Today's event was attended by Taichung City Government Deputy Secretary-General Da-Chun Chang, City Councilors Yu-Lien Shen and Cheng-Tian Chen, Cultural Affairs Bureau Director Chia-Chun Chen, Cultural Affairs Bureau Deputy Director Chun-Fu Shi, Taichung City Library Director Hui-Chun Tseng, Beitun District Office Deputy Chief Hung-Ming Hsu, Sports Bureau Specialist Tsung-Hsueh Wu, Taichung City Beitun Women's and New Immigrants Empowerment Center Director Ya-Ling Lai, Songzhu Elementary School Principal Yung-Kun Huang, and DING JEYE ENTERPRISE INTERION DECORATION CO., LTD. General Manager Guo-Zhao Dou. Representatives from Legislative Yuan Deputy Speaker Chi-Chen Chiang, Legislator Chien-Hao Huang, and City Councilors Chia-Yi Hsieh and Shun-Jen Lai's service offices were also present. Beitun District Household Registration Office Section Chief Chi-Yun Luo, Pingtian Village Chief Yu-Hong Pan, and various Beitun District village and neighborhood leaders, school representatives, Xiangshang Cultural and Educational Foundation, and Chih-Jung Chen Architects all participated in the celebration.