Window of Shanghai

After its merger with the Shanghai Municipal Library of Science and Technology and the Institute of Scientific and Technological Information, the Shanghai Library opened its doors to the public in 1996. It is the largest public library in China and the second largest library in China after the National Library of China. It became the first library in China to combine public library services with SciTech and industry information research functions for local governments, researchers, businessmen, lawyers and the general public. The library has many branches throughout the city. The main library has 800 employees, 3,000 seating places and about 5,000 visitors per day.

Several years ago University of Haifa's Library joined Shanghai Library's book exchange program called Window of Shanghai. As a partner in this program, the Library has received donations of hundreds of books about China in all fields of knowledge: history, politics, economics, geography, society, culture, literature and art.
In 2008 the library exhibited a selection of the items received through the Window of Shanghai program.