Opened in 2015, the South Study Room on the second floor is of extraordinary significance to Nanjing, as it is the first public reading space in Nanjing that is open 24 hours a day. Today, the south study on the second floor has many derivative chain study rooms in Nanjing, such as Baijia Study, Jiangdong Study, Jiangning Library Civic Center Branch, etc.

The south study on the second floor is hidden in a Republic of China building in Xinjiekou, which was once the residence of General Liu Zhi during the Republic of China. The study is a two-story house with a courtyard, the first floor is not open, and you can reach the study by climbing up the stairs, which is also the origin of the name of the study. The decoration style of the south study on the second floor is affected by the location, and the atmosphere of the Republic of China is strong, with old copper wall lamps, dark blue embroidered tablecloths, bamboo chairs, carved wooden windows and other design elements can be seen everywhere, which is quite antique.

The study is small in size, consisting of three rooms with an area of about 60 square meters. There are less than 20 reading seats in the study room, which is slightly crowded when there are many people, which reduces the reading experience. The south study on the second floor has a small collection of only about 3,000 books, but the scope of books is not narrow, including literature, history, politics, aesthetics, design, art and other different categories.

Books are classified according to publishers, and most of these publishers are industry representatives, such as Zhonghua Book Company, Shanghai Translation Publishing House, Life, Reading, and New Knowledge Joint Bookstore. The south study room on the second floor does not subdivide the books, different types of books are mixed together, and the study room does not have a book retrieval system, so it is inconvenient for readers to find books. In terms of screening books, the south study room on the second floor is mainly based on Douban scores and Amazon star standards. The south study on the second floor does not blindly choose bestsellers or pursue niches, but pays more attention to the classic type of books, taking literature as an example, most of them are works by classic authors such as García Márquez and Milan Kundera.

As a 24-hour study room, the south study room on the second floor provides free drinking water and paid drinks such as coffee and tea for readers staying overnight at a reasonable price. The study room is equipped with a reading lamp, a kettle and paper towels, and a toilet.

Compared with most bookstores in Nanjing, there are not many offline activities held in the South Study Room on the second floor, and due to space constraints, most of the bookstore activities are small lectures in a single form. The activities of the South Study Room on the second floor and its spin-off chain bookstores are different, and readers can sign up to participate in the activities in the bookstore's official account. The south study room on the second floor does not sell books, the books in the bookstore can be read for free, if you need to borrow books, you need to apply for a membership card, and pay a deposit, the amount is usually about 100 yuan, the specific information is subject to the official.