Ningbo becomes the first city in Zhejiang province to promote reading in the form of legislation. [Photo/cnnb.com.cn]

Ningbo has implemented legislation to promote reading in the city, which is set take effect on April 1. 

The city has become the first in Zhejiang province to promote reading in the form of legislation. 

In October last year, the legislation was passed at the 24th session of the 15th standing committee of the Ningbo Municipal People's Congress and later approved by the 15th session of the 13th standing committee of the Zhejiang Provincial People's Congress.

A head official at the Ningbo municipal press and publication bureau pointed out the legislation will improve cultural life in the city.

Reading is a private matter. Some may wonder whether the regulation will make reading compulsory, said the official, but the legislation won't interfere with individual reading behavior and instead aims to make reading more convenient, he continued.

The legislation will further clarify the responsibilities of relevant departments and help tackle existing problems in the city, such as the unbalanced distribution of reading facilities and insufficient supply of reading services, experts noted. 

The regulation stipulates that local authorities should allocate part of their public fiscal budget to reading services and include the construction of basic public reading service facilities such as libraries in their development plans. 

The legislation also requires that public libraries should provide public reading spaces offering free 24-hour self-service. 

The regulation also focuses heavily on digital reading, requiring public libraries and village (community) libraries to set up public electronic reading equipment while encouraging publishers and physical bookstores to develop and promote various multimedia reading products. 

Ningbo has already been making efforts to promote reading for several years. 

A survey showed that the average amount read by adult residents in Ningbo in 2019, including printed books, newspapers and e-books, all registered an uptick over the previous year. 

The new Ningbo Library, covering an area of 31,800 square meters, has 1,800 seats for reading. Last year, it received nearly 1.5 million readers and lent out more than two million books.

All county-level public libraries in the city have met national first-class classification. The city's 154 townships have also built libraries, with the largest occupying an area of 4,500 square meters.