Taichung City Library Shalu Shenbo Branch Introduction
In 1986, the "Shalu Township Library" was established on the fourth floor of the Shalu Township Office building. At that time, it housed 12,922 books. Due to the inconvenience of access, the then township mayor, Chen Ming-di, hoped to combine community efforts to build a larger library, in response to the government's policy that "every township should have a library." In collaboration with the local "Wei Dan Enterprises," the township office provided a plot of public land covering 4,797 square meters, while Wei Dan Enterprises invested in the construction. The Education Department of Taiwan Province and the Taichung County Government subsidized the equipment. Construction began in 1988, and by the end of 1989, it was completed and handed over to the township office for management. The library officially opened on February 20, 1990, and on July 14 of the same year, book circulation and borrowing officially commenced. To recognize the company's dedication to giving back to the community, the library was named the "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 came under the jurisdiction of the Taichung City Government's Cultural Bureau and was renamed "Taichung City Shalu District Shenbo Library." On March 1, 2016, it was reorganized and became the "Taichung City Library Shalu Shenbo Branch." The Shalu Shenbo Branch is adjacent to the Shalu administrative center and near schools such as 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 in the country by organizing the "Bookstart" early childhood reading promotion program, introduced from the UK, and the following year promoted parent-child reading clubs, allowing reading to accompany the growth of families. Additionally, the Shalu Shenbo Branch is one of the leading "movie-themed" libraries in the country, with a collection that includes thousands of special items related to film, such as film books, audiovisual materials, journals, exhibition brochures, and movie posters. It is equipped with complete movie screening facilities and regularly screens films from around the world and hosts themed film exhibitions, creating a rich cinematic atmosphere in this public library.
