A new, rather HUGE branch of the Taichung National Library had its soft opening last week. It’s getting its grand opening on June 3rd.
We checked it out today. English books, along with Vietnamese, Thai, and Indonesian, are on the 5th floor, kind of tucked away in the back. It’s a nice building and the selection is pretty good, both fiction and non-fiction. There’ll be some books and authors you can’t find and some you’ll be pleased to see.
Here are some links:
ntl.gov.tw/english/
focustaiwan.tw/ShowNews/WebNews_ … 1205150041
taiwantoday.tw/ct.asp?xItem= … ctNode=445
bestautodesign.com/national-libr … cts-taiwan
Looks nice, pity about the location! Most people don’t go near the train station area I’d say.
I’m there 3-5 times a week actually, so this is awesome!
There’s some sort of government building across the street just behind it and a small park across the street out front. Other than that, the area is a little old without much around. I imagine they hope it’ll give a boost to that part of the city. It’s less than 15 minutes from where I live, so I hope to go there often. It’s a MUCH nicer facility than the one in Taichung Park.
Ha,
I can see it from my kitchen window 
It’s awesome place. Actually it’s just next to NCHU, so not really a middle of nowhere, and for a drive that would be 5 min from the Art Museum. They have also DVDs, but not sure if those are for rent or for watching at there only. They have very nice children area too.
Agnes
What is the study area like?
I’m not sure about the rest of the building, but there are tables and chairs on the fifth floor along the edge of the wall. Some are for four people, some near the windows are for two people. It’s still a bit new, so the novelty hasn’t worn off yet. There were a lot of kids walking around with their parents, so it was a bit noisy. That was on a weekend, though. Weekday mornings should be better. Each floor has a mini kitchen with sinks and hot water. You could easily bring an Aeropress and a Porlex hand grinder and make a very nice cup of coffee. 
Never been there. I used to The Taichung Park one. The new one a bit to far. Got bus line there?
:neutral:
to be honest, haven’t really try to sit down there~ but I noticed a lot of chairs is the modern style… bare plastic… not my fav type. They have some nice looking sofas for the DVD watching area (they have lots of movies and documentaries on DVDs to watch).
For the seats I like NCHU library, but not sure if non-student can get in, and always it’s loaded with NCHU students (well maybe not so much during summer vacations).
this is the best library (or should I say the only good one?) yet it and every other place are usually so packed I invested in an office at home!
True, while in other countries libraries are struggling, Taiwanese one are overcrowded. However, I believe the new one should be more free during the week, students will choose NCHU’s one most likely.
Recently they opened a coffee store/restaurant in the new one, haven’t tried it yet. There’s also nice store with educational books and toys for kids!
Agnes