National Central Library (NCL) (國家圖書館), Taiwan

Overview

The National Central Library (NCL; Chinese: 國家圖書館) is the sole national library of Taiwan (the Republic of China), located at No. 20, Zhongshan South Road, Zhongzheng District, Taipei. Its mission is to acquire, catalog, and preserve national publications for government, research, and public use, while also supporting Sinological research through its affiliated Center for Chinese Studies.

History and Founding

The NCL was originally founded in Nanjing in 1933. During the Sino-Japanese War, it relocated to Chongqing in Sichuan Province, returning to Nanjing after the war in 1946. Following the relocation of the Republic of China government to Taiwan in 1948, the library's rare books and collections were transferred to Taichung for safekeeping before the NCL resumed public services in Taipei's Botanical Gardens area in 1953–1954. The library's current purpose-built facility in Zhongzheng District, located facing the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall, was completed and opened to the public on September 28, 1986. The NCL was administratively reorganized in 1996 following a revision to its organic law.

Collections and Holdings

The NCL holds over 4.1 million items, including one of the world's premier collections of Chinese rare books: nearly 13,000 titles (over 130,000 volumes) spanning the Song to Qing dynasties, with a particularly rich anthology of Ming dynasty prints. Special collections include Dunhuang scrolls, bronze and stone rubbings, thread-bound volumes, bamboo slips from the Juyan region, Han dynasty artifacts, and microforms. The library also maintains extensive collections of Western-language periodicals on China, pre-1949 Chinese periodicals from mainland China, and a union catalog of Chinese serials.

Digital Services and Access

The NCL provides a range of online services including the National Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations in Taiwan (NDLTD Taiwan), electronic databases, and the Bibliographic Information Center. The library is open Tuesday through Sunday from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and is free to all visitors. It publishes hundreds of professional training courses and reading events annually.