The National Library of China is located in the west of Beijing. Its predecessor was the Capital Library established by 1909. In the 19 1 6 library, legal copies of national publications were accepted. 1928 Library was named as National Beiping Library. After the founding of People's Republic of China (PRC), the library was renamed Beijing Library. Since 1987, the name National Library of China has been used in the communication and cooperation with libraries in various countries. 19981February, the State Council approved changing the Chinese name of the library to Guan Shu, the national library of China. The National Library of China is a comprehensive research library, a national repository of domestic publications, a national bibliography center, a national library information network center and a library research and development center. The library serves the central legislature, the government, key research institutions, academic institutions, educational institutions, commercial institutions and the public. The library is responsible for the implementation of official cultural agreements and exchanges and cooperation with libraries at home and abroad. The total construction area of the library is170,000 square meters, ranking fifth in Universal Library. By the end of 2003, the library had a rich collection of 24 1 100000 volumes/item, ranking fifth in Universal Library. There are 270,000 rare books, 654.38+0.6 million general ancient books and 35,000 Oracle bones in the collection. This library has not only the largest collection of Chinese books in the world, but also the largest foreign language materials in China. It has a strong collection of these materials, such as celebrity manuscripts, revolutionary historical materials, China's doctoral thesis, United Nations publications and more and more electronic publications. The library is open to the public 365 days a year and provides online services 24 hours a day through the connection with various multimedia networks and the Internet.