October 31, 2022 marks the 12th anniversary of the closing of the Expo 2010 Shanghai. The World Expo Museum is also the official documentation research center of the International Exhibitions Bureau. WE Library started its trial run as a window for the external services of the Documentation Research Center.

WE Library set a hierarchical collection development plan with the Expo thematic collection as the core, the cultural and exhibition books as the support, and other urban planning, history and design books as the supplement.

After years of joint efforts with the International Exhibitions Bureau and the Expo International Community, WE Library has developed a rich physical and digital collection containing 14 languages, spanning the period from 1851 to the present.

Audience Entrance

The visitor entrance of WE Library is adjacent to the Universal Flag Forest. Before entering the library, you can see the service desk, as well as the OPAC ((Online Public Access Catalogues), self-service checkout and disinfection machines equipped on the other side.

Readers can enter the library by swiping their own reader card.

What to see at WE Library

The Tunnel book

The first page of the People's Republic of China at the World Expo

1F-Curator's Sofa

WE Library is an integral part of the World Expo Museum and is well connected to the programs in other areas of the World Expo Museum.

The Curator's Sofa area shows the current exhibition Meow's Wonderland--An Exhibition of Naive Arts from Belarus, where the curator recommends books to visitors, and on the other side is a preview by the curator of the upcoming Mystery Fabric exhibition, which will open in November, to help visitors interested in exploring the exhibition in depth to form a closed loop of knowledge acquisition.

1F - Connecting to Expo Events

The library displays our collection of yearbooks from 1996 to the present, the open-shelf view of the World Expo Museum publications and Expo 2020 Dubai-related publication Cities under Expo Spotlight, which are deposited in our library by the Bureau International des Exhibitions..

1F-Special Exhibition: Preserved copies of WE Library

On the back of the shelf, some of the preserved books of the World Expo Museum are displayed, purchased one by one from 160 booksellers in more than 70 cities outside of China, with official guides, newspapers, catalogues, general histories, manuscripts, novels and other document types already in place.

The preserved books here are on special display to celebrate the trial run, and will be on display until the end of 2022. Subsequent professional and staff readers can transfer them, but will need to apply to return them to the library on the same day they are borrowed.

1F-Special Collection of Antiquarian Books

In order to make use of the Special Collection under the premise of conservation, WE Library is gradually digitizing the Special Collection, and readers can search and browse the parts that have been processed at the digital reading table.

The wall behind the digital reading table is decorated with Ten Huge Books, which is a photo of the book art section of the British Pavilion at Expo 1937 Paris, and is also from our digital collection The Book of Expo 1937 Paris , which can be viewed in the digital reading area.

Cover of THE MASTERPIECES OF THE CENTENNIAL INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITION ILLUSTRATED, Volume 3

1F-2F-Staircase display

The staircase connecting the first floor to the second floor displays "Red culture, Jiangnan culture, Shanghai culture" documents. Although the stairs are beautiful, please pay attention when walking.

2F-Shared digital collection of the International Exhibitions Bureau

The International Exhibitions Bureau Library and WE Library have always maintained a good relationship in collection development and reader services. The International Exhibitions Bureau has deposited more than 1,400 documents of the Expo before World War II, including exhibit catalogs, jury reports, final reports, documents of French exhibitors, etc., such as the catalog of exhibits of Expo 1855 Paris French, newspapers of Expo 1873 Vienna Austrian, the final report of Expo 2005 Aichi Japan, and the bidding documents of Expo 1889 Paris French.

2F-Special Collections--Map of the Expo site

The library also displays the Expo pavilion's systematic thematic collections through interactive touch screens. These two devices display maps of the parks of the last 20 World Expos.

2F-Special Collections - Expo 2010 Shanghai Special Collections

This area collects more than 2,000 Expo 2010 Shanghai-related books, covering a wide range of disciplines including architecture, transportation, design, journalism, and history, partly purchased and collected by WE Library, but also donated by the social community.

Corridor 2F: Micro exhibitions - The Library at the Expo

WE Library allows for the first time a systematic gathering of over 170 years of Expo literature, which can reveal many new topics that no one before was in a position to carry out. For example, the micro-exhibition The Library at the World Expo on the second-floor corridor is a small test, revealing the many relationships between the World Expo and the library: in the early days of the World Expo, the library exhibited as a supplier and then as an exhibitor on its own, showing its own development through the World Expo and becoming a symbol of the high level of civilization and welfare of the city where it was located; later, the library moved from the front to the backstage, helping in the bidding, preparation, holding and exhibiting of the World Expo at various stages.

This picture is a screenshot of the cataloging data of the book Expo Architecture deposited by the International Exhibitions Bureau to the World Expo Museum, which can be interconnected and shared with libraries worldwide, reflecting the professional, academic, international and standardized nature of WE Library, and is a testimony to the standardized library in the Expo industry.

Trial run today

At 10:30 a.m. on October 31, the launch ceremony of the trial run of WE Library was officially held at the World Expo Museum.

Leaders and guests from the World Expo Museum's partner institutions: Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Museum of World Languages (SISU), Shanghai Pudong Library; and partner universities: Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of History and Culture of Science; partner: Dayin Book Mall attended the ceremony.

Liu Xiuhua, Director of the World Expo Museum, introduced the construction overview and trial run plan of WE Library

Liu Xiuhua, Director of the World Expo Museum, said that since its establishment twelve years ago, the World Expo Museum has been dedicated to the construction and development of the two official properties of the above-mentioned International Exhibitions Bureau functions. WE Library, which starts its trial run today, will be built with a target of 100,000 books, linked to the library collection located at the headquarters of the International Exhibitions Bureau in Paris and hold part of the International Exhibitions Bureau library collection, and will provide a variety of services for Chinese and overseas professional readers during the trial run by appointment.

We hope that through the open service window of WE Library, we will work together with academic and professional readers and members of the international Expo community at home and abroad to develop and expand the breadth, depth and height of academic and professional research on the Expo, and strive to create an international, academic and authoritative research center for the official documents of the International Exhibitions Bureau.

Liu Jun, the founder of Dayin Book Mall, the hosting project of WE Library, introduced the participation in the project and the related activities to be carried out afterwards

Shanghai Institutes for International Studies, Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai Jiaotong University Museum of World Languages (SISU) and Shanghai Pudong Library donated publications to WE Library; Director Liu Xiuhua and Vice Director Zou Jun presented the donation certificates to the donors

Vice Director Yu Zhenyu, Vice Director Zhou Yongping and Vice Secretary Zhong Ruibin present the first trial run readers' cards of WE Library to the guests

Although more than 5,000 museums across the country have reading rooms, reference rooms or libraries, few of them are open to the public. Facing the situation that WE Library has to serve many types of readers with "one space, one collection and one team", the library has designed a service plan of "hierarchy of collections, subgroups of readers, empowerment of categories, and each taking what they need", which will be gradually adjusted and optimized during the trial run.

This plan was also awarded as excellent in the "2022 Academic Paper and Business Case Collection" of the Library Society of China and recommended for exchange.

How to become an Expo reader

Reader Registration

WE Library readers are divided into general readers and professional readers.

General Readers

Registration scope: All kinds of personnel over 14 years old can register as general readers after submitting registration information.

Registration channels: WeChat app of WE Library, call 021-23132898 or send an e-mail to library@expo.cn.

Validity period: General readers' accounts are valid for a long time after registration.

Professional Readers

Scope of application: The scope of the application for professional readers is for those who are engaged in Expo-related work or research and need a lot of in-depth access to Expo materials.

Registration channel: Please send an e-mail to library@expo.cn, fill in the registration information, submit the corresponding supporting documents, and become a professional reader of the library after examination by the library.

Opening of borrowing privileges: Professional readers need to pay a deposit of 1000RMB if they want to open borrowing privileges.

Validity and renewal: The default validity of the professional reader status is one year, and the reader can apply for a one-year renewal one month before the expiration date. After the professional reader's status expires, the privileges will be transferred to general readers.

Trial Run Opening Hours -

Tuesday to Friday 9:00-16:30 (closed on holidays)

Admission to WE Library for Reading

General readers should reserve at least one day in advance. Since WE Library is inside the World Expo Museum, please observe the rules and regulations of the World Expo Museum on epidemic prevention and control and make reservations to enter the World Expo Museum on the same day first. Channels: WE Library WeChat app. For assistance please call 021-23132898 or send an e-mail to library@expo.cn during library opening hours.

Reservation Process

1. Check the available reservation dates within 14 days.

2. Select the date of arrival and submit your application. If the reservation is successful, the reservation record will be displayed in "My Visiting Reservations".

3. On the day of arrival, if you use the WeChat app, please present the "QR code ID" to enter the library; if you cannot use the WeChat app, please exchange your valid ID for a "Day Pass" at the service desk. Both the "Day Pass" and the "QR code ID" can be used to enter and exit WE Library multiple times on the same day.

WE Library WeChat app, call 021-23132898 or send an e-mail to library@expo.cn.

(Working hours: 9-16 p.m. on library opening days)

Professional readers can enter and leave WE Library several times during opening hours with the "QR Code ID" or "Professional Reader's Card" without reservation.

Admission Notice

In order to create a safe and comfortable reading environment, please observe WE Library's Admission Notice.

1. Please pay attention to your appearance and keep a civilized and polite demeanor. Please do not wear flip-flops, undershirts or pants.

2. Pets, selfie sticks, tripods, aerial cameras, scooters, balance bikes, food, colored and sugary drinks, and flammable and explosive items that may endanger public safety are not allowed.

3. Smoking and open flames are prohibited in WE Library.

4. Please take care of your belongings by yourself. If you need to store your belongings, please follow the regulations of the storage service.

5. One seat for each, please do not occupy the seat with your bag or other items.

6. Please keep quiet, no loud noises are allowed.

7. Do not engage in trading, entertainment or other activities in the library.

8. Maintain the sanitation of the library, do not spit, do not throw confetti, shells and other debris, and do not scribble or draw on public property.

9. If you need to take photographs or videos inside the library, please contact the staff first and respect the portrait rights of the people present.

10. Abide by the rules and regulations of WE Library.