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TopHong Kong Polytechnical University Library
The PolyUL was established in August 1972 to serve the Hong Kong Polytechnic, which was granted the full university status and renamed as the Hong Kong Polytechnic University (HKPU) in 1994. In December 1995, the PolyUL was officially named after the late Sir Yue-kong Pao in appreciation of a generous donation to the University by the family of the millionaire (PolyUL, 2012). Currently, the library building is a six-storey purpose-designed building with an area of 16,662 square meters, providing the storage areas of archives, books, and other library materials, as well as approximately 3,600 study places for its users. The PolyUL also houses a 24-Hour study center, group discussion rooms, teaching and learning labs for library instruction classes, group rooms for use of audio-visual materials, study carrels for private study, and a special room for the visually disabled (PolyU, 2014).
The PolyUL comprises of one of the largest collections of scientific, engineering, and business materials in East Asia. Other areas of strength are its collection in areas such as information technology, computing, nursing, textiles and design. The present holdings exceed 2.4 million items, to which more than 24,000 volumes are added annually. Around 2,700 active print serial titles are held in the PolyUL. Via the Internet, the PolyUL provides round the clock access to near 46,000 unique full-text e-journal titles, over 370,000 e-books, and a wide array of multi-media and e-learning programs. The PolyUL also maintains several special collections and a self-developed databases, including a comprehensive Standards Collection, the PolyU Examination Paper Database, a Digital Image Gallery and a Slide Collection. In addition, the PolyUL provides access to a unique and heavily used collection of over 28,900 local Chinese and English language television programs (PolyU, 2014). In brief, the PolyUL is one of the most important academic libraries in the territory.