Opened in 2018, Xiaoshuguan has undoubtedly injected fresh blood into Hangzhou's bookstore culture. Initiated by the well-known musician and director Gao Xiaosong, the bookstore is located in the Liangzhu Cultural Center, a certain distance from the city, despite this, a large number of readers still come to the bookstore every day, and the bookstore is extremely popular. When it comes to Hangzhou bookstores, Xiaoshuguan is one that must not be missed.
The building where the bookstore is located was designed by world-class architect Tadao Ando. There is a large pond outside the bookstore, where hundreds of Somei Yoshino cherry trees are planted, and the environment is beautiful. The roof of the building uses triangular light windows to bring in daylight, and the bookstore is also equipped with floor-to-ceiling windows to brighten the reading environment. In terms of decoration design, the bookstore is white with wood color, and the bookshelves are all in the style of a colonnade bookcase, which is simple and full of design.
The bookstore has a total collection of 50,000 books, carefully selected by a professional book selection team, and all books have been checked by Gao Xiaosong. The bookstore is divided into two floors, the first floor is dominated by literature, history, politics, and philosophy books, and the book recommendations at the entrance are all written by Gao Xiaosong himself, such as "Xiaoshuo" and "History of Yuyangye", all editions are complete. Many of the books on other shelves are also from Gao Xiaosong's book list, such as "One Hundred Years of Solitude", "Blade", "Guns, Germs and Steel", etc., so Xiaoshuguan has also been commented as "the externalization of Gao Xiaosong's spiritual world". On the first floor, you can also find some precious books, such as the manuscript of "Sima Guang Zizhi Tongjian's Manuscript" and "Dream of Red Mansions", which are rare to see and have a very high collection value.
The second floor is dominated by children's books, and the bookstore is also very detailed. All tables and bookcases have been replaced with shorter models with impact corners and tatami mat cushions on the floor. The children's book area is mostly picture book storybooks, which are suitable for parents and children to read. The second floor is also divided into a special area for ancient books, where books are not borrowed and are limited to reading in the library, most of which are forty or fifty years old.
It is a slight disadvantage that the classification of books in Xiaoshuguan is not clear enough, and the bookstore does not have a search system, which makes it inconvenient for readers to find books. When readers want to access the upper books on the high shelves, they need to contact the staff to get a ladder to help, which is relatively troublesome. In order to allow readers to read more books, Xiaoshuguan will regularly adjust and replace the bookshelves.
The "Companion Reader Program" is a reader service launched by Xiaoshuguan, which includes companion reading sharing sessions, book recommendations and a series of public welfare activities. The bookstore will invite well-known writers, scholars or artists to come to the library from time to time to share their reading experience and experience, and the celebrity writers who have visited the Xiaoshu Library in person are: Mai Jia, Zhang Dinghao, Wu Xiaobo and so on. In addition, in order to promote public reading, Xiaoshuguan has also launched a series of "Thought Blessing Bags" to give away books, aiming to make more people fall in love with reading through interactive exchanges.
The bookstore is open to the whole society free of charge, and readers can make an appointment to enter the library through the official website, official blog or WeChat official account one week in advance, and they need to bring their ID cards to go. The bookstore has a daily limit of 300 people, and the number of people at the same time is controlled to less than 50 people, so it is not often noisy and crowded, and the reading atmosphere is more comfortable. Drinks, snacks and bags are not allowed in the library and need to be stored at the entrance of the bookstore, which has a coffee bar and free drinking water.
