April 23 is UNESCO‘s World Book Day. This year, the University of Michigan- Shanghai Jiao Tong University Joint Institute (UM-SJTU JI) celebrates the day’s 20th anniversary by unveiling the “JI Book Bar” located at the Yu Liming Student Activity Center.
The “JI Book Bar” houses 1,200 books, all donated by the Admiralty Book Store owned by the parents of JI alumna Zhongshu Jin, Class of 2008. Those nicely bound books have been specially selected for the JI community, covering a wide range including literature, management, Chinese study, history and arts. Hopefully, the library will promote the reading culture at JI.
“JI Book Bar” is established by JI students, which aims to bring some fresh air of humanity into their otherwise stiff engineering learning. Since the beginning of the spring term, a library system has been set up: students can read freely within the Yu Liming Center. If they want to check out books, they only need to register with the Librarian and return the books within two weeks. Each borrower is limited to three books at a time.
With the casual spread of randomly selected books over the long table, picking up a book to read at any time is made easy. The cultural ambiance is enhanced by strategically placed greenery and tasteful decoration of posters, making reading there an enjoyable experience.
Moreover, the JI Book Bar’s Wechat account “JIBookBar” provides an amazing array of service. Borrowers can request certain books through Wechat, which will be delivered to their residence the next day. Readers can post their book reviews on Wechat, which will be shared regularly.
Despite the prevalence of computer, Kindle, Smartphone, twitters, movies, the black prints on white paper still hold irreplaceable place among readers. Books are the vessel of knowledge and torch of spirit to pass on to the future generations. The JI Book Bar will uphold JI’s cultural banner and promote the habit of “reading anywhere anytime.”
Reportedly, at the beginning of the summer semester, the “JI Book Bar” will host the exhibition of winning works of JI’s Photography Contest, which will be followed by cultural seminars and book discussions galore.
