With its humble origin as a small reading room built in 1983, the Shenzhen University (SZU) Library is one of the influential academic libraries in China today. Since the construction of the first university library building (Huidian building on the Yuehai campus, 23,441㎡) in 1986, SZU Library system has come a long way with the additions of the Huizhi building on the Yuehai campus (May 2009, 25,000㎡), the Lihu Central library (Qiming building) on the Lihu Campus (October 2022, 41,774㎡).
As of December 2022, the SZU Library has more than 4,515,000 printed books and 198 databases, which contain 3,030,100 full-text e-books and 127,900 full-text electronic journals. Equipped with rich resources and state of the art facilities, SZU Library is now an open and integrated service system that facilitates teaching and research initiatives in all areas, promotes talent cultivating, international communication and the construction of campus culture.
SZU Library pursues the service idea of "The service is supreme", opens 16 hours a day, 355 days throughout the year. Reading promotion activities held in the form of diversification to propagate culture, gather consensus, fostering virtue. SZU Library was awarded the “Advanced Unit for National Reading” by the Library Society of China in 2011 and 2013, and was awarded the “National Reading Demonstration Base” by the Library Society of China in October 2020.
SZU library strives to explore service transformation and upgrading. Subject analysis services are extended from library to departments and research teams. So far, SZU library has provided citation search service, Sci-Tech novelty retrieval service, selective dissemination of information service, data services about academic evaluations, subject analyses, human resources management and other management decisions. In June 2018，the Intellectual Property Information Service Center of Shenzhen University was built to provide patent information search, novelty search, intellectual property training, and patent analysis. In July 2020, the center was selected as the “National Intellectual Property Information Service Center for Colleges and Universities (2020-2025)” by the China National Intellectual Property Administration and the Ministry of Education.
Meanwhile, SZU Library has a wide influence in automation, informationization, digitalization construction of library. In 1985, SZU Library took the lead in developing an integrated library system (SULCMIS) in China. Due to this system, SZU Library was awarded the National Excellent Teaching Achievement Award (1989), the Second Prize for Excellent Teaching Achievement in Guangdong Province Universities (1991), and the Second Prize for Science and Technology Progress in Shenzhen (1992). Since 2010, SZU library has undertaken the development of Electronic Resource Management System, DRAA, next generation of library service platform. In December 2015, SZU library became the Shenzhen Technology Center of the China Academic Library and Information System (CALIS). Since 2020, SZU library has continued to make efforts in smart library construction such as implementing electronic tags, inventory robots, and book reading behavior monitoring systems. In October 2022, an intelligent 3D stack room was put into use at Lihu Central library on the Lihu Campus.
Facing the world, SZU library will strive for cultural leadership to realize innovative and qualitative development, and build the high-level Special Economic Zone University Library for the people.
Last revised on April 2023.
