Taichung City Library Shalu Shenbo Branch Introduction
In 1986, the "Shalu Township Library" was established on the fourth floor of the Shalu Township Office, with an initial collection of 12,922 books. To provide a more convenient reading space, then-Township Mayor Chen Ming-di hoped to collaborate with private sector forces to build a larger library, in response to the government policy of "every township has a library." In partnership with the local "Wei Dan Enterprises," the township office provided public land of 4,797 square meters, while Wei Dan contributed construction funding. The Education Department of Taiwan Province and Taichung County Government subsidized equipment enhancements. Construction began in 1988 and was completed by the end of 1989, turning over the management to the township office. The library officially opened on February 20, 1990, and began lending books on July 14 of the same year. To honor the contributions of the enterprise to the community, the library was named "Shalu Township Shenbo Library" after Mr. Yang Shenbo, the founder of Wei Dan Enterprises. On December 25, 2010, due to the merger of Taichung County and City, it was transferred to the Taichung City Government's Cultural Affairs Bureau and renamed "Taichung City Shalu District Shenbo Library." On March 1, 2016, it was reorganized and renamed "Taichung City Library Shalu Shenbo Branch." The Shalu Shenbo Branch is located adjacent to the Shalu administrative center and is close to various schools including Shalu Junior High School, Shalu Elementary School, Beishi Junior High School, Shalu Senior Vocational School, Zhulin Elementary School, Providence University, and Hungkuang University, serving a wide audience. In 2003, the Shalu Shenbo Branch took the lead nationwide by launching the "Bookstart" infant and toddler reading promotion program introduced from the UK, and the following year initiated parent-child reading clubs, allowing reading to accompany children's growth. Additionally, the Shalu Shenbo Branch is one of the leading "movie-themed" specialty libraries in the country, boasting a collection of thousands of film-related resources including movie books, audiovisual materials, journals, exhibition handbooks, and movie posters. It is equipped with complete film screening facilities and regularly shows films from around the world and hosts themed film exhibitions, creating a public library rich in cinematic atmosphere.
