Gifu City Chuo Library

The Gifu City Chuo Library is the main public library in Gifu, Gifu Prefecture, Japan. The current building was opened in 2015, replacing one that served the city from 1958 onwards. The Library has over 70 librarians on staff. Since the new building opened, the number of annual visitors has increased ten times; the library draws up to three times the city's population with 1.35 million annual visitors (before the renewal, it would see about 150, 000 visitors a year). It has become a popular visiting spot for young families; NHK notes that the number of patrons aged 40 or younger has increase by 22 since it opened. Over 100 new libraries have been built across the country using subsidies from the Infrastructure Ministry, pushing the “compact city” idea. Financing for the new type of library in Gifu, was also helped by a subsidy from local government that encouraged the construction of a library combined with a community center and other spaces for public use. Since the turn of the century, there is a trend with new libraries in Japan that evolve to meet the needs of the local users; “problem solving libraries” that are helping people in the local area. Each new library is tailored to the needs of the area; more than a quiet place with books, they've evolved into community hubs offering a multitude of programming. Gifu caters to young families while also serving more senior users.

Library data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).