Hunan Provincial Library is the earliest library in China and the first provincial library named after the library. Founded in March of 1904, Hunan Provincial Library and Education Museum was established near Dingwangtai in Changsha. 19 12 Hunan Library was renamed as "Provincial Hunan Library", and the name was determined again in 1984.

Someone on the Internet said that the earliest library in China was the Wuhan library. In fact, Hubei Library only opened on August 27th, 1904, which is half a year later than Hunan Library, three years earlier than Jiangnan Library and 38 years earlier than the prestigious Shi Jing Library (the predecessor of Beijing Library).

There are still some documents in the Hunan Provincial Library that are not open to the public and borrowed, some of which are treasures, such as the ancient book list "King Kong Prajna Paramita Sutra", "Mahayana Sutra of Infinite Life", "Lotus Sutra of Wonderful Method", "Nirvana Sutra" and "On Great Wisdom", and 160 in the national precious ancient book list.

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.