Self-service library in Lhasa has high-tech service

Patrons visit the 24-hour self-service library using a facial recognition system and participate in a lucky drawing activity at the opening ceremony in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, on Wednesday. [Photo by Gan Di/For chinadaily.com.cn] 

A 24-hour self-service library using a facial recognition system opened to the public in Lhasa, Tibet autonomous region, on Wednesday, as part of an effort to promote reading.

Located inside the city government's service hall, the 24-hour self-service library operates through an unattended borrowing and returning device based on RFID technology. It is the region's first 24-hour self-service library with a facial recognition system, according to the regional library, which is in charge of the project.

Tseten Butri, head of the regional library, said it has been conducting different reading activities in via various channels and forms, including organizing activities online and offline.

"It upholds core socialist values and traditional Chinese culture and aims to integrate reading into people's lives by giving readers easy access to good books," said Tseten Butri.The self-service library offers free borrowing and return services for the general public. It uses a facial recognition system for entry. Visitors can also use IDs or social security cards for entry.

The library houses a total of 240 books in various categories, from law to social science and literature in Chinese and Tibetan languages.

Kalsang Lhamo, a resident of Lhasa, is pleased with the service. She lives a short distance from the library and likes reading.

"I am happy to see that we have such a convenient library in our city. It means the city is developing, and more residents will benefit from the platform," Kalsang Lhamo said.

"The library's current collection is small, but it will grow as time goes by, and I hope we will have more smart self-service libraries at various sites in the region in the future."