Using the Library in China

I am looking for a quiet place to study Chinese, and so I decide to go to the Shanghai Public Library. It is a huge structure on Gaoan Rd. near the Hengshan subway station.

I walk upstairs and the lady at the entrance gate to the stacks stops me. "You can't bring your bag in, you need to put it in a locker," she says.

"But, I have my textbook in there. I need to use it to study," I say.

"You can't take it in," she repeats.

"Why?" I ask.

"Because those are the rules," she responds.

Finally, I ask if I can take my notebook in with me, and she tells me that's okay. I sit down and ask the girl across from me why I can't take any books into the library.

"Well," she says, "you're supposed to read the books in the library."

"Yes, I know that," I say. "But why can't you bring in your own, like your school textbook?"

"Well," she says, "if everyone brings their own books, then it will be difficult to tell which books are the library's and which are peoples' own books."

I think for a second. "You mean, there are some bad people who would take books from the library and then claim that they are their books?" I ask. You see, four years of college really did help my analytical skills.

"That is correct," she says.

Oh, I get it. That makes sense. Of course, you can't bring your own books into a library here.

Welcome to China.