In Nanjing, China, a city nearly 2,500 years old, centennial celebrations often pass without much fanfare. But to celebrate the hundredth anniversary of its first public library, this ancient city in eastern China built a thoroughly modern structure to house a treasury of books, prints, and rare ancient manuscripts. According to the library, the design of the new building was conceived specifically to address "the challenges and opportunities brought about by globalization, new technologies, and growth of the information economy."
 
Designed by Gao Yujiang, a Chinese architect and professor at Zhejiang University, in collaboration with the Nanjing Architectural Design Institute (his former employer), Nanjing library's new home was designed as one of the country's foremost bibliographic institutions. The 11-story building ultimately will accommodate up to 12 million volumes and 3,000 readers, support new technologies that facilitate both cataloguing and research, and safeguard its archives. At nearly 861,000 square feet, the facility will address chronic space shortages created by a collection that grows by about 84,000 volumes annually.
 
The soaring entry of the glass and steel building faces a public park, whose arched walkways complement the elliptical form of the oculus-crowned atrium. The 40-acre site in historic Daxing Gong adjacent to 1,600-year-old imperial palace ruins, and a 10-minute walk from the commercial district and conveniently located near tourist attractions such as the Nanjing Art Gallery and the Museum of Modern Chinese History,
 
Along with two other Chinese cities, Nanjing, which sits on the lower Yangtze River, has the dubious honor of being known as one of the country's "three furnaces." In summer, the city's six million residents sweat through temperatures that regularly exceed 38 degrees Celsius (100 degrees Fahrenheit).
 
In response, the architectural team designed the building's exterior with deep overhangs to create shaded gathering areas. To screen the interiors and their irreplaceable contents from the high temperatures and harsh sunlight, they specified banks of aerofin sun louvers by Hunter Douglas. Affixed vertically to the building's exterior, the louvers shade the building from light exposure in the afternoons, when the sun angle of incidence is low.
 
Similarly, temperature-controlled reading rooms protect the delicate documents while they are being used, including rare ancient texts, Buddhist manuscripts of the Tang Dynasty, Ming dynasty prints, and documents from the Republic of China. Other rooms in the huge space include an exhibition hall, a computer learning room, an e-resources retrieval center, a reading room for the blind, and a children's activity center.
 
In Nanjing, the phrase "man zou" -- "go slow" -- is said to be a favorite saying among residents. Maybe it's a reaction to the exploding pace of Chinese society. Or maybe it's the heat. Regardless, the city's new library is a perfect (and cool) place for the locals to do just that.