The National Library of China (NLC) is celebrating its 100th birthday Wednesday. With the theme of "Pass on Civilization, Serve the Society" the centennial anniversary of the founding of NLC entails a series of activities such as exhibitions, academic conferences and story collections.

The National Library of China (NLC) is celebrating its 100th birthday on September 9.

"We are commemorating the 100th birthday of NLC not merely for its extraordinary past, but more importantly for its inspiring present and bright future," Chen Li, vice library curator of NLC, told the Global Times.

During the past 100 years NLC has developed into a significant place of reading, learning and literature.

The founding of a national library was sanctified by Puyi, the last emperor of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), in September 1909. In the past century, the library has moved from its original temporary site at Guanghua Temple in Shichahai, to the old South School of the Imperial College, to No. 7 Wenjin Street near the Beihai Park and finally to its current site near Zizhuyuan Park near Xizhimen. It also has undergone several name changes, from the Capital Library to State-run Peking Library, then Beijing Library and now the National Library of China.

The National Library of China (NLC) is celebrating its 100th birthday on September 9.

In its 100-year history, the library has also shared the ups and downs of the nation. Just before the July 7 Incident of 1937, in order to protect the nation's rare books, the then curator Yuan Tongli decided to transport them to the south of China. Yuan also employed this strategy in Shanghai. When the city fell to enemy occupation, Yuan risked his life to collect the most important rare books and send them to the US for microfilming. A total of 102 boxes were shipped, containing 30,000 books from 2,700 genres.