For seven years in a row, Sanwan Library has outperformed any other library in Taiwan in terms of the number of books checked out per year.
Located in Sanwan village in the western county of Miaoli, Sanwan Library only has about 60,000 books. So what makes the library so special? It is up on the hottest topics in society.
At the entrance of Sanwan Library, there are all kinds of books about water and rain on the shelf, including picture books for children. The library has more than 100 books about the topic and half of them were checked out within a week.
Librarian Hsieh Shu-chen says Taiwan is facing a water shortage, so it’s a good opportunity for the library to introduce books about the timely subject.
The strategy worked! One woman says she looks forward to visiting the library because it always has something special. She also said she hopes it will rain soon.
There are only 7,000 people in Sanwan village. But for seven years in a row, the number of books checked out each year has been the highest in Taiwan. On average, each person borrows 21 books per year. That’s three times the figure in Taipei.
Village Chief Wen Zhi-chiang said although the village has a very small population, the local library is working hard to boost public interest in reading. The strategy? Keep up with the times!