The University of Macau Library has moved into the current “University of Macau Wu Yee Sun Library” building in July 2014. Standing in the forefront and occupying a very central location of the new campus, and surrounded by a man-made lake and a man-made river, the WYS Library is the landmark building of the whole campus. The main entrance, facing the Library Square, connects with the Central Teaching Building and Faculties through corridors and bridges. WYS Library is a magnificent building of 7 floors with two lower wings on its sides. The size of the new library is about 30,000 square meters, and is projected to hold one million volumes of books and journals, and to provide some 3,000 seats. The WYS Library was designed by Professor He Jingtang (何鏡堂教授), Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. In tune with the design principles of the UM campus, it combines the best features of the Chinese and Western cultural elements in its exterior. Looking from outside, it exudes learning and scholarship, just like any great university library anywhere in the world, and at the same time, it projects warmth and beams welcome on its visitors.
The interior of the Library has an atrium lobby with natural sunlight. There is a sky garden located on the second floor. The sky garden area is decorated with a large number of plants and flowers, infusing natural elements into the reading atmosphere. The hanging round-shape exhibition hall located on the fifth floor contrasts with the square-shape atrium lobby on the ground floor. In Chinese tradition, this kind of contrast is known as「天圓地方」(“round sky and square land”), representing the whole world. This also implies that the Library holds comprehensive and large amount of collections from all over the world.
With over thirty years of development, the WYS Library has become the largest library in Macau. At this moment, the Library holds a collection of over 5 million pieces/wikis, which includes about 600,000 books, 6,000 titles of periodicals, 24,000 rare books, 12,000 items of AV materials, 1,000 paintings/antiques, 3,000 items of special collections and 7,000 rolls of microfilms. With the rapid development of web services, the Library has acquired quite a number of electronic resources, which includes about 300 e-databases, 600,000 e-books, 6,530,000 e-theses, 4,000 types of e-newspapers and 140,000 titles of e-journals.
The WYS Library continues to integrate the use of innovative technologies into traditional library services, and apply the pioneering and innovative concepts to its functions. Currently, the Library is using UHF system to manage its book collections. In addition, the books are not simply shelved strictly according to the classification scheme. Instead, they are grouped and shelved in clusters by their subjects. This facilitates better use of the collection and makes it easier for readers to use the collection.
The WYS Library also encourages and emphasizes on discussion, sharing and interaction among students. With easy accessibility of information on the web, libraries these days have to become places for collaborative learning and interaction among their readers. To achieve this aim, WYS Library provides a large number of group discussion rooms installed with state-of-the-art equipment. In addition, there will be some informal discussion and interaction spaces throughout the Library for students to socialize, interact, and to learn from each other. The WYS Library has established a 24-hour reading area, which is first of its kind in Macau. This 24-hour Reading Area is furnished with flexible and movable furniture, allowing readers to combine and move them freely according to their needs.
However, WYS Library also has to cater to the needs of other readers who may prefer individual study and, therefore, a quieter environment. For this, the Library is divided up into several different zones to take care of the different requirements of its users. Some parts of the Library are designated as the silent zone, where serious and scholarly study may be conducted. And some parts of the Library are made into semi-silent zone, where students may study with their friends and generate some discussion whereas other readers just regard the noise thus generated as background noise.
To support the overall development of the university’s teaching, learning and research, and consider the development trend of higher education on the importance of collaborative learning, the WYS Library is designed with a new and open concept, aiming to let teachers and students experience a brand new way of learning and acquiring information. The functions of each floor in the Library are as follows:
- On the ground floor: the Information Commons, the Periodicals Area, the Exhibition Hall, the Auditorium and the 24-hour Reading Area. The Information Commons provides one-stop information services and has an area of about 600 square meters, which is one of the largest of its kind in Macau. The Periodicals Area has an area of 360 square meters and is a self-service area that provides newspaper reading, periodical reading, teachers/students’ textbook reading and borrowing.
- The first floor is the Special Collection Area. The Rare Book Collection Room, the Macau Corner, open-shelves special collections, the Microfilm Room, UM Faculty Collection and Special Collection Reading Room are all located on this floor. Some special collections are the Macau Collection, Book Series Collection, UM theses, Reference Books, International Organizations Collection, etc. The Chinese and Western rare books shelved in the Rare Book Collection Room were mainly donated by Mr Ho Yin (何賢先生), Prof. Chan Kwan-po (陳君葆教授) and Mr Chan Wai Hang (陳煒恆先生), etc.
- The general book stacks hold a collection of about 500,000 books and are located on the second to the fourth floors. The books are organized and grouped according to their subjects. The general collections are now categorized into seven subject zones, and they are:
- Zone A of the 2nd floor: Philosophy, Religion, Psychology, Education and Arts (B, L-N)
- Zone C of the 2nd floor: Language and Literature (P, FC)
- Zone A of the 3rd floor: Science and Medical Science (Q-V)
- Zone C of the 3rd floor: History and Geography (C-G)
- Zone A of the 4th floor: Business Management (H-HG)
- Zone C of the 4th floor: Law and Public Administration (HJ-HX, J-K)
The fifth floor is the Old Book Collection Room, Back Issue Collection Room and Press & Media Research Centre.
