By February 24, 2021, the WE Library has sorted and shelved near 10,000 hard copies, of those, 80% are open stack books. These books are available to readers. Over 1,000 copies of storage materials and close stack books are for staff and professional readers only. In addition, near 50,000 hard copy archives are stored in the archive storage room, including 2,353 CDs. The ancient book storage room has hundreds of titles of Expo-related ancient materials in Chinese and foreign languages.
The WE Library has about 1.33 million pieces of Expo-related electronic documents, images, video clips, and audio files with the size of approx. 14 TB.
Currently, collections of the WE Library have covered 14 languages and spanned from Year 1851 to the present. After extensive preparation, the WE Library has launched part of the resources and will continue processing more resources for readers.
1. Materials deposited by the BIE
By November 2019, the BIE Library has deposited 1,815 volumes of digital, historical documentation, BIE Bulletins since 1996, and publications sponsored by the BIE in the WE Library, including official catalogues of several Expos and other major international exhibitions, final reports, and relevant books.
BIE Bulletins and publications sponsored by the BIE are on the first floor. The WE Library has reprinted part of the ancient books from the BIE Library, which are on the second floor. Digital documentation is stored in the Digital WE Library, which can be accessed via E-Desks on site.
2. WEM Publications
One of the functions of the Documentation & Research Center is to issue Expo-themed publications. By January 2021, the World Expo Museum has issued four series of publications, including the Expo 2010 Shanghai Official Albums, Expo Albums, World Expo Museum Collection Albums, and Academic Publications. A total of 14 books have been published.
3. Expo Ancient Documentation
The WE Library, following the principles of acting official, comprehensive, and systematic, constantly collects historical documentation of Expos in a long term. Of those, the WE Library has preliminary established a systematic collection of Expo periodicals, Site maps, exhibit albums, and publicity materials.
The WE Library will gradually digitize these resources and show them on interactive touch screens, Digital WE Library, and following exhibitions.
4. Thematic Hard Copy
The WE Library has purchased books and magazines that are relevant to Expos and museology collections in both Chinese and foreign languages, covering various subjects, such as architecture, economy, city planning, art, history, and design.
The open stack books are on the second floor of the WE Library: The Expo collection books are placed on the Expo shelves by the year of Expos, language, theme, and a book's arrival time at the library. Museology collection books are placed on the book wall on the west side, and the Comprehensive collections are placed on the south side book wall by language, theme, and a book's arrival time at the library.
5. Expo Digital Resources
The Digital WE Library, the resource of which will gradually increase, includes an Expo image library and video library.
The Expo image library consists of three sessions, including previous Expos, Expo 2010 Shanghai, and Expos after 2010. The library has near 100,000 images of the Expo Sites, pavilions, exhibits, activities, shows, major events, and Expo celebrities. By cooperating with the SMG, the Expo video library collects video materials from over 60 Expos since 1900 and 1,175 video clips of Expo 2010 Shanghai. World Expo Museum has filmed and acquired more than 6,000 video clips during participating Expos since 2012.
Resources available to the public are stored in the Digital WE Library. Readers can view these clips via the E-Desks on the first and second floor of the WE Library.
6. Donated Documentation
The Documentation & Research Center has received near 1,000 pieces of documentation and several electronic materials donated by Expo organizers and participants across the globe, and institutes from both inside and outside China, such as the Shanghai Library, and the Université libre de Bruxelles. These books are stored in the Expo Collection, Museology Collection, Comprehensive Collection shelves, or the Digital WE Library, and will be open to the public after cataloguing.
In addition, the city planning books provided by the Shanghai Coordination Center of World Cities Day, a strategic partner of the WE Library, are on the book wall on the west side of the second floor. Books recommended by librarians are on the Librarian's Selection shelves on the first floor. Books cooperatively displayed with other institutes are on the shelves in the sofa area on the first floor. Both the first and second floors have set dedicated shelves for reference books.
Resources available to the public are stored in the Digital WE Library. Readers can view these clips via the E-Desks on the first and second floor of the WE Library.
