When I was only ten years old, I had already been sneaking into the adult sections of the libraries. I am not sure whether the rules are different now. But at that time, only youngsters older than 11 were allowed to enter Tuen Mun Library’s adult section. During that time, I was obsessed with Chiung Yao’s romance novels and couldn’t help but sneak into there. The children’s section was very noisy while the adult section was incredibly quiet. It was quite a scary experience since the adult section was so quiet and I was literally violating the rules. I would quickly grab a few Chiung Yao’s books from the shelf and then leave as soon as possible. As I gradually became bolder, I started to explore the bookshelves there. Famous Japanese authors such as Kawabata Yasunari, Haruki Murakami, Kenzaburo Oe and Natsume Soseki started to leave an impression on me and later became references for my reading list.

A library is a place where people can escape from their daily troubles and enjoy books. When I first came to Japan, I didn’t really speak Japanese. But I was fortunate to have amazing encounters with Japanese libraries. Kyoto University of Art and Design’s library was my favourite when I was studying in Kyoto. I chose to study at the Kyoto Institute of Culture and Language because I could use the university’s facilities as a language school student. The university’s library has abundant resources for arts and photography. At there I read many great portfolios from Hiroshi Sugimoto and Daido Moriyama and books on architecture from Nakamura Yoshifumi and Terunobu Fujimori.

After graduating, I first moved to Takatsuki in Osaka and then back to Kyoto’s Nakagyo district. There would always be a library near my house within walking distance. The library in Takatsuki was bright and clean. There were tables in the library by which visitors could read or work on their laptops. I also started a new routine in that library. I started to write articles there, using the library as a shared office. But the central public library near my house in Kyoto didn’t have such function as it only allowed visitors to use the tables for reading. Besides that, there was always a sweaty smell during the summer. It was probably because the building was already old and the ventilation system there was outdated. I was also hurrying myself to leave that library after I got my books for this reason.

Kyoto is full of incredible architectures. She might never understand why a city in Kyushu would put all its bets on a library. Several years ago, after visiting the Ceramic Art Festival in Karatsu in Saga Prefecture, I took a detour and went to Takeo city. Just like me, most tourists who go to Takeo city are there for the city library.

Takeo City Library was built in 2000. When Keisuke Hiwatashi became the city’s mayor, the library was still very new. The new mayor of the city then thought of renovating the library. Keisuke Hiwatashi found several issues regarding the library. For example, the library didn’t have enough funding from the city government and therefore lacked a diverse magazine stock and staff. In 2012, he officially released a library renovation plan in partnership with Culture Convenience Club of the Tsutaya Books Group. According to the renovation plan, the library will allocate some space to Tsutaya Books for selling magazines and books. In exchange, Tsutaya Books will be responsible for the library’s management and purchasing new books and magazines so as to provide residents with more reading options. In the library, there are Starbucks and public reading space that is free to use.

Entrusting public facility’s management to a private company is quite controversial. On the second floor of the renovated Takeo City Library, there are now book walls that are made of tens of thousands of books from the library inventory, which presents a stunning visual enjoyment. Within just one year, the library has attracted over one million visitors for Takeo city, a very small town in the countryside. The number of visitors had increased by 360%, bringing additional income to Takeo city. However, income is actually not the ultimate goal of Keisuke Hiwatashi’s plan to renovate the library.

“Public libraries nowadays are just libraries operated by the government. They are not really public,” Keisuke Hiwatashi said. “They are not interesting because they are run by the government.” He believes that public libraries are only operating according to the guidelines from the government, which is not enough. The public property of state-run libraries should serve the public even if the visitors might not go there to read, he said.

Takeo City Library showcases another function of libraries. It not only provides the public with the opportunities to discover interesting books but also serves as a public space for the residents in the city to chill. The city library in Gifu, named as Our Forest (みなの森), has given libraries broader missions. But I will leave this one for another time.