Hi folks,

Residents in other outlying islands (Peng Chau, Mui Wo), and remote areas (Tai O, Sha Tau Kok) are enjoying weekly 5.5 days' public library services. Cheung Chau's library opens 7 days a week, closing at 8pm normally.

Look at situation in Lamma, our libraries are opened:
Yung Shue Wan (North Lamma) - 3.5 days a week
Sok Ku Wan (South Lamma) - 2 days a week

While other libraries close normally at 5.30pm/6pm, and some days even until 8pm, ours at Yung Shue Wan - guess what? 4.30pm!

Link to opening hours of public libraries in HK:
http://sc.lcsd.gov.hk/gb/www.hkpl.gov.h ... _hkir.html

Any ideas why this should be the case? Also, do you think there is enough room/ seats in our libraries? What may be done to improve our library services and facilities?

You might want to appreciate what you have right now.

There was talk about closing down the YSW library completely and permanently a few months ago. The Rural Committee owns the land and has wanted it back for years, so they set a deadline of end of this year to get it back. Not sure what the status is now, maybe the lease has been extended for another year, but the library is definitely living on borrowed time.

The LCSD has not found a new location to move the library yet. There have even been concrete suggestions to move it onto the future, proposed harbour reclamation, as far as I've heard.

You're welcome to correct me or add more current info and updates....

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I don't "appreciate" those greedy assholes trying to close the library.

Anyway, that's a completely separate issue as to what hours it remains open, wherever it is.

Currently the same staff operate both Sok Kwu Wan and YSW, so we get half a week each.

What do the rural committee have planned for the site?

Who knows.
It's not as if they act for the welfare of the community, who might actually value a facility like a library. They're a club for real estate developers. Maybe they want to turn it into a karaoke parlour or a shark fin restaurant.

Even though I'm sure that the site was reclaimed and the structure built using government funds to begin with. It would be interesting to know what excuse that was done under.

Probably the CPA reclamation will be repurposed after a few years, when it's clear how useless it is as for bike parking and they'll put tables out on it, as they do now on the government land next to the rural committee building and the government is quite happy to ignore while its inspectors harass any one selling stuff on the street, who isn't associated with an influential local businessman.

It is quite silly that the YSW library is only opened until 4.30pm, and closes on Saturday afternoon and Sunday whole day - just when the kids are after school and people are off work, ready to enjoy some leisure reading.

Assuming it stays open, I wonder what impact the proposed new bike park will have on the approach to the library? Not a good one, I suspect.

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Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

I try to support the library by having books I want to read shipped from all corners of Hong Kong for pick up at North Lamma--at 2.50 apiece. (If you haven't already, check out their excellent revamped search platform in two languages, English and Traditional Chinese: http://webcat.hkpl.gov.hk

Oh, I guess I'm preaching to the choir. You wouldn't be mad otherwise, right?

Of course -- that's what makes it so valuable. Before all the libraries were linked, our branch was just a handful of books, which you could exhaust within a few months, hardly worth visiting. Now it gives easy access to the millions of titles in the entire public library system.

PS -- I have combined your last two posts. Instead of doing multiple posts, please click "edit" on your previous one and add to it.