The Sha Tin Public Library () is a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

located at 1 Yuen Wo Road,

Sha Tin Sha Tin, also spelt Shatin, is a neighbourhood along Shing Mun River in the eastern New Territories, Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Sha Tin District. Sha Tin is one of the neighbourhoods of the Sha Tin New Town project. The ne ...

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. It has been managed by the

Leisure and Cultural Services Department The Leisure and Cultural Services Department (LCSD), is a department in the Government of Hong Kong. It reports to the Culture, Sports & Tourism Bureau, headed by the Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism. It provides leisure and cultural ...

(LCSD) since 2000. The library has three public storeys. The first houses administration and the students' study room. The main circulation desk and the children's library are on the second level. The third houses the adult library, reference library and computer laboratory.

History

The library was opened on 16 February 1987 as part of the same complex as the

Sha Tin Town Hall Sha Tin Town Hall is a town hall at the town centre of the Sha Tin District in Hong Kong. It is located near Sha Tin station, Sha Tin Park and New Town Plaza. It is part of the podium complex which includes the Sha Tin Town Hall, Sha Tin Publ ...

, Sha Tin Marriage Registry and a restaurant. It was originally managed by the Regional Council. At that time, it was called the Sha Tin Central Library () before its current name was adopted in 2000. Other adjacent buildings in the town centre include

New Town Plaza New Town Plaza is a shopping mall in the town centre of Sha Tin, Hong Kong. Developed by Sun Hung Kai Properties, it was the biggest shopping centre in the New Territories when it was completed in the early 1980s. Covering 200,000 square metre ...

, Shatin Law Courts, Royal Park Hotel, and New Town Tower. The exterior of the library was refurbished in the early 2000s as the original glass mosaic tiles, as well as the bonding holding them to the building, had deteriorated. Tiles were prone to suddenly fall, and thus posed a public safety risk. The exterior of the library was completely reclad in a reddish ceramic tile, as were the exteriors of the other buildings in the Sha Tin and Tuen Mun town hall complexes built 1986–87. The interior of the library was renovated from 2007 to 2008. The reading area was revamped and modernised, additional seating was provided in the students' study room, a new reading corner was built in the children's library and audiovisual equipment was enhanced. Also in 2008, a special "Sports and Fitness Collection" was set up on the third storey. It provides over 18,000 items including books, reports, journals, multimedia, and electronic material. The LCSD categorises libraries as ''major'', ''district'', or ''small''. Sha Tin Public Library is the only ''major library'' in Sha Tin district, and has been assessed as falling short of the prevailing space provision standard for this type of library, as has the district library in nearby

Ma On Shan Ma On Shan may refer to: * Ma On Shan (peak) ( zh, t=馬鞍山, s=马鞍山, l=saddle peak, links=no), a mountain in the New Territories of Hong Kong * Ma On Shan (town), a New Town in the New Territories on the foot of Ma On Shan mountain * Ma On ...

. In order to address this district-wide shortcoming, a new district library was built in nearby

Yuen Chau Kok Yuen Chau Kok () is an area in Sha Tin District, New Territories, Hong Kong, near Sha Tin Road and Prince of Wales Hospital and is within walking distance of City One station of the MTR Tuen Ma line. The island was a major station for travel ...

, which opened in 2017.

References

External links

Sha Tin Public Library
{{Authority control Libraries established in 1987 Library buildings completed in 1987 Public libraries in Hong Kong Sha Tin 1987 establishments in Hong Kong Libraries in Hong Kong