The Nantang City Study, a popular reading space located in Wenzhou's Ouhai district, receives its funding from local property owners. [Photo/zj.zjol.com.cn]

Officials from the culture departments of 10 Chinese cities, including Wenzhou, Beijing, Shanghai, Yangzhou, Hefei, and Nanchang, gathered in Wenzhou, Zhejiang province on Sept 27 to establish a cooperation system for their non-profit 24-hour self-service libraries.

These libraries, often referred to as "city studies", first emerged in Wenzhou in 2014 and soon began mushrooming all over the country in response to people's growing demand for free reading spaces within walking distance from their homes.

Wenzhou currently has 88 "city studies", among which 79 are fully funded and managed by non-governmental organizations and businesses. Similar reading spaces have been established in 130-plus Chinese cities, with a total of 1,700 springing up throughout the nation.

The cooperation mechanism established at the Wenzhou conference is aimed at exploring a sustainable development model for public reading spaces and improving their services.

"We look forward to widespread cooperation between Chinese cities in the building of public reading spaces, including interior design, services, management methods, and more," said Zhu Yunhua, director of the Wenzhou Administration of Culture, Radio, Television, and Tourism.