Two eminent scholars will deliver lectures on innovation at the Shenzhen Science and Technology Library in Nanshan District on Friday to mark the opening of the city's first science library.

Wang Shuguo, president of Harbin Institute of Technology, and Zhao Zhongxian, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, will speak on the subject of scientific innovation and regional economic growth.

"To provide service for science workers and enterprises is only part of the function of the library, which serves as a data base of the city's science documents and resources," said Zhao Xichen, head of the library.

Located inside the Shenzhen University Town in Xili Subdistrict, Nanshan District, the library, the first one in China to cater to the needs of both university students and the general public, cost 230 million yuan (US$29.49 million) and took more than four years to build. Covering an area of 40,000 square meters, it has room for 1.5 million books and 2,500 seats and can accommodate 8,000 visitors a day.

"We now have 685,000 printed volumes, 3,262 Chinese-language periodicals and 1,392 English ones for readers, and we will purchase more books demanded by readers in the coming years," said Zhao.

The library has a collection of 60,000 foreign books and periodicals.

Editor: Donald