Taitung County Library opens as new local landmark

Taipei, April 22 (CNA) After years of starts and stops, the Taitung County Library officially opened Wednesday, featuring a design inspired by mountain mist that the county government hopes will help it become an important Taitung landmark.

Taitung County Magistrate Yao Ching-ling (饒慶鈴) said at the library's opening ceremony that the project reflected local residents' strong emphasis on knowledge and learning, and lauded the initial results of the library's soft opening.

In a Facebook post, Yao said that more than 70,000 people had visited the library during its 22-day test period and had checked out more than 30,000 books.

In the future, she said, the county is expected to buy 10,000-12,000 new books for the library each year.

Beyond the library's collection of books, Yao also recommended the Taitung Exploration Center on the library's first floor, offering multimedia exhibits that explore Taitung, time and space, literature, music, art, rituals and celebrations, religion, and sports.

Lee Chih-chung (李吉崇), director of the county's Cultural Affairs Department, said in a March interview that the library was designed for all age groups, with a parent-child reading area, a newspaper and periodicals section for seniors, and a dedicated space for teenagers.

The parent-child area features a "starry meadow" theme, while the youth section includes a comics and manga collection, Lee said.

The 3,450-ping (11,404-square-meter) library, which has four above-ground floors and one basement level, is located on a site that was previously occupied by a swimming pool built in 1987.

The pool was later demolished because it was outdated, and former County Magistrate Justin Huang (黃健庭) proposed to replace it with a project combining an existing nearby library with a multipurpose gymnasium that would include a new pool and sports center.

The project was initially scheduled to be tendered in 2014 but was delayed until 2018 due to budget and design issues. It subsequently failed to attract any bidders in 12 tenders despite multiple revisions.

After Yao took office in 2018, the joint development plan was scrapped, and the swimming pool project was separated from the library.

Construction of the library began in 2021 after the tender was successfully awarded, and it was originally slated for completion in 2023. But the project was delayed by various factors, including the COVID-19 pandemic, before finally being completed earlier this year.