Afteryearsofbeingleftunused,anover-80-year-oldlibrary,for⁃merlyknownastheShanghaiLibrary,onHeishanRoadofYangpuDistrictisgoingtoberejuvenatedbybeingreturnedtothelookitoncewasen⁃visionedandrenamedas“YangpuLibrary.”Thefirstphaseofthereno⁃vationandextensionisnowabouttobefinished.OnDecember8,the30thanniversaryofShanghaibeingnamed“National Historical and CulturalCity,”ameetingabouthowtocon⁃serveandreusethelibrarywashost⁃edattheLibrary.

　　Librariesaretheguardiansofhumans’thoughtsandwisdom,andthebeaconsofspiritincities.Whentheyaregettingold,aquestionpres⁃ents:tocontinueasthewayitwasortoreform,toinherittheoldortocreatesomethingnew.Astheoldsayinggoes,“thereisnonewwithoutbreakingtheold.”Therenovationandextensionoftheoldlibraryisacom⁃binationoftheoldandthenew,pre⁃sentingthelibrarywithabrandnewlook,whilepreservingthehistoricalrelicsintheirwholeness.

　　It’sworthnotingthatthenewYangpuLibrarywillbringtolifethepartthatwasneverrealizedintheoriginaldesign,thatis,the“twowings”attherearendofthecon⁃struction,whichwasabortedatthattimeduetoexpensesandschedulesandmanyotherreasons.Thiswillbeanextensiontotheoriginalcon⁃structionbasedonthedesignmanu⁃scriptofDongDayou,intandemwiththerenovation.

　　ThenewYangpuLibrarywillbeacomprehensivepubliclibrarythatprovideservicessuchasreading,lit⁃eraturesharing,ande-culturalcon⁃tentforpublicbenefits,anddigitalreadingexperiencethatcouldbeac⁃cessedanytimeatanywhereviacloudcomputingplatformandcloudli⁃brary,combiningmultiplescreensandnetworksintoone.

　　As the project manager WuYouweiofShanghaiBuildingDeco⁃rationGrouprecalled,whentheywerefirstgettinginsidethelibrary,oneofthecorebuildingsofthe“GreaterShanghaiPlan,“theysawaconstructionthatwasalreadyfallingapart.Thoughwithfourwalls,itwasovergrownwithweedsandallcov⁃eredupbyclimbingplants.Theleakinginsidewasprettyserious,andtheroofwasdecaying.Thosebrightyellowglazedtiles,onceaspectacu⁃larsight,werebasicallybreakingintopieces.“Repairingitasthewayitwasrequiresustodigintotheoldmem⁃oriesofthelibrary,“saidWuYouwei.