Shanghai Library goes high-tech

Shanghai Library members will be able to search for books, locate a book's position on shelf and borrow books through their smartphones with a new version of an app that will be launched by the library in a few months.

When used in the library, the app will be able to tell users via a voice message, their position in the library, and show detailed information about the nearest reading room, opening times and the latest events. Readers can also use the app to search for books in more than 250 libraries across the city.

A real library card may become obsolete in the future. Readers who pass identity authentication by the library can get a QR code in the app. They can show the code for scanning when entering reading rooms or borrowing books.

So far, about 3.1 million people have a Shanghai Library card, accounting for about 13 percent of the city's permanent residents, a year-on-year growth of 30 percent.

Founded in 1952, Shanghai Library is the second-largest library in China after the National Library of China in Beijing. The library has a collection of more than 53 million items in Chinese and other languages.