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OpinionLetters

Letters | How Hong Kong’s public libraries can turn the page on underuse of their resources

  • Instead of waiting for people to apply for library accounts, the authorities should create them for everyone
  • Reading subsidies for schools could be reconsidered, given that schools don’t tap free public library resources enough

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A woman reads at Hong Kong Central Library in Causeway Bay. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Letters

In April last year, Hong Kong Public Libraries introduced a new scheme for members of the public to sign up for a library account online and access the libraries’ e-resources without having to visit in person. While the new arrangement is welcome during the Covid-19 pandemic, the Leisure and Cultural Services Department should promote these e-resources more effectively by optimising infrastructure for e-reading and better engaging local schools.

As of March 31 this year, only 1,420 people had applied for e-accounts for online reading and 167 had registered for full library accounts under the new scheme. Instead of waiting for the public to apply for library membership, the authorities should coordinate with the Immigration Department to create a library account for each and every Hong Kong identity card holder and allow all Hong Kong residents to log in using their dates of birth as initial passwords. The ongoing smart Hong Kong ID replacement scheme also offers excellent opportunities for HKPL to promote its e-account scheme when residents visit card replacement centres.

Although HKPL boasts 77 types of e-resources, better infrastructure is needed to facilitate more convenient access to the online material. Among the e-resources, only four items – Flipster, HyRead, Naxos Music Library and Naxos Music Library Jazz – are available through smartphone apps, yet usage data suggests that the public uses resources more frequently when mobile app access is supported.

HKPL has also developed its own Multimedia Information mobile app to enable the public to access a different set of digital collections. To enhance public access to e-resources, HKPL should transform this app into a gateway to all the databases they have subscribed to and monitor the usage of the various e-resources in a consistent manner.

02:36

World's "loneliest library" is on a beach in China

World's "loneliest library" is on a beach in China
To promote public library services among schoolchildren, the Library Cards for All School Children scheme was launched in 2001. Yet, only 178,000 cards have been issued under this scheme over the past 20 years. In 2019, only 277 out of 1,091 schools took part in the scheme and 10,571 library cards were issued, a small number relative to the over 700,000 students enrolled in local schools. 
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