Cooperation with the National Central Library of Taiwan

Cooperation agreement

The Bayerische Staatsbibliothek and the National Central Library of Taiwan have concluded a cooperation agreement on 15 March 2012.

The National Central Library is the national library of Taiwan and holds a collection of Chinese printed works and manuscripts that is unique in the world. This makes it an ideal partner for the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, whose Chinese collection – among other things over 3,000 manuscripts – ranks among the most important and valuable collections of this type in Europe

The cooperation agreement is oriented i.a. towards joint digitization projects and the exchange of digital copies. Moreover, in the future the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek will enter its Chinese holdings also in the international "Union Catalogue of Chinese Rare Books" maintained by the National Central Library. The worldwide visibility and accessibility of the valuable East-Asian collections of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek is thus considerably increased.

Cooperation agreement (PDF, 6.8 MB)

National Central Library

"Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies" at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek

On 3 November 2014, the grand opening took place of a "Taiwan Resource Center for Chinese Studies" at the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek. Dr. Klaus Ceynowa, Deputy Director General of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek, and Dr. Tseng Shu-hsien, Director General of the National Central Library of the Republic of China (Taiwan) signed a corresponding agreement in the presence of the representative of the Taipei mission in the Federal Republic of Germany, Agnes Hwa-Yue Chen.

For the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek this means that substantial amounts of sinological research literature can now be obtained regularly free of charge from Taiwan via the National Central Library. The respectively current titles will henceforth be available to the library users in a separate area of the East European, Oriental and Asian Reading Room. Moreover, the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek will have free access to selected databases of the National Central Library and commercial providers from Taiwan.

Further information on the use

In view of limited financial resources on the one hand and the annually growing number of scholarly titles, accompanied by increasing book prices, on the other hand, this agreement represents an important contribution to the further enhancement of the Chinese collection of the Bayerische Staatsbibliothek.