A library is an institution that collects, sorts out and collects books and materials for people to read and refer to. As early as 3000 BC, libraries appeared. Library has the functions of preserving human cultural heritage, developing information resources and participating in social education.

Library is the external storage and selective transmission mechanism of social memory (usually expressed in written records). In other words, the library is the memory device and diffusion device of social knowledge, information and culture.

Libraries in China have a long history. It's just that at first we didn't call it a library, a mansion, a pavilion, a view, a stage, a temple, a courtyard, a hall, a study and a building. For example, the Lian Zhai in the Western Zhou Dynasty, Shiqu Pavilion, Dongguan Pavilion and Lantai Pavilion in the Han Dynasty, Guanwen Temple in the Sui and Tang Dynasties, Chongwen Academy in the Song Dynasty, Lianshengtang in the Ming Dynasty, and four storehouses and seven pavilions in the Qing Dynasty. "Library" is a foreign word, which was introduced into China from Japan at the end of 19.