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National Diet Library Newsletter


 

No. 107, January 1999

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The construction of a new facility of the NDL
The National Diet Library (NDL) will open a new facility in the Kansai region in FY 2002. On November 30, 1998, the ceremony of laying the foundation stone of the Kansai-kan (tentative name) was held at the construction site in the Kansai Science City. 
Kansai-kan The Objectives of the Kansai-kan are to provide a larger storage capacity to cope with the ever-increasing volume of publications and to upgrade the library's services to fit the information environment of the 21st century. 

Basic functions of the Kansai-kan will be; 

  1. Providing larger storage capacity 
  2. Dissemination of documents and related information to international and domestic users 
  3. Providing documents and information on and from Asian countries 
  4. Operating as a center for library cooperation 
  5. Promoting research and development and training activities in the area of library and information science.

Map of Japan After the opening, the Kansai-kan will work in tandem with the Tokyo main library. 

The new building will comprise four floors above ground and four floors underground with a gross floor area of 59,500 square meters. In the future, the building will be expanded in stages to a final floor space of 165,000 square meters with 20 million volumes capacity. 

The basic design plan of the Kansai-kan aims at harmony and coexistence with the surrounding natural environment. A roof garden and a courtyard covered with greenery will link the building and the grove of assorted trees in the neighboring hills. 

For further information, go to: http://www.ndl.go.jp/about/eng/sub_menu_f03.html

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