The Taipei City Public Library opened its fourth unmanned intelligent library yesterday, but this one has been built not just to be smart, but also to be as “green” as the park in which it stands.
The Solar Library and Energy-Optimized House (called Solar LEO House), situated in Youth Park in Taipei, has been constructed based on environmental protection principles, Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said at the inauguration ceremony.
“It will not just be an intelligent library; it will also serve to promote green energy and energy saving ideas,” Hau said.
Hau expressed his gratitude to Cheng Fu-tien (鄭福田, 1948-2008), the late founder of solar power pioneer Motech Industries. Cheng initiated the idea of building the energy-efficient library in Wanhua District (萬華), where he grew up, in an effort to give back to society.
The Solar Library is a two-story box-like house with a simple, minimalist, modern appearance. The unmanned library on the first floor is equipped with a radio frequency identification (RFID) system. With an RFID city public library card or EasyCard, visitors can enter and exit the library and borrow books by entering the details on a computer.
“It’s the first time we have built an unmanned library in a park,” National Central Library Director-General Tseng Shu-hsien (曾淑賢) said.
The City Public Library has previously built unmanned libraries in a shopping mall and Ximending commercial disrrict. To date, they have run smoothly without much vandalism and theft, Tseng said.
The second floor of the new library serves as an exhibition center with educational displays about the building’s structure and energy-saving features. It will also host forums and activities to promote energy-saving education, according to the HAND Initiative, a non-profit organization commissioned to run the exhibition hall.
The Solar LEO House was designed and constructed by Chang Ching-hwa (張清華) and Kuo Ying-chao (郭英釗), the architects who built Taiwan’s first “green” library in Beitou (北投), based on energy-saving ideas introduced to Taiwan by Hu Shiang-lin (胡湘玲), founder of the HAND Initiative.
According to the initiative, the library’s design emphasizes the use of natural insulation materials to keep its interior at 25oC in summer, without using air conditioners.
The Executive Yuan yesterday announced that registration for a one-time universal NT$10,000 cash handout to help people in Taiwan survive US tariffs and inflation would start on Nov. 5, with payouts available as early as Nov. 12. Who is eligible for the handout? Registered Taiwanese nationals are eligible, including those born in Taiwan before April 30 next year with a birth certificate. Non-registered nationals with residence permits, foreign permanent residents and foreign spouses of Taiwanese citizens with residence permits also qualify for the handouts. For people who meet the eligibility requirements, but passed away between yesterday and April 30 next year, surviving family members
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
Taiwanese officials are courting podcasters and influencers aligned with US President Donald Trump as they grow more worried the US leader could undermine Taiwanese interests in talks with China, people familiar with the matter said. Trump has said Taiwan would likely be on the agenda when he is expected to meet Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) next week in a bid to resolve persistent trade tensions. China has asked the White House to officially declare it “opposes” Taiwanese independence, Bloomberg reported last month, a concession that would mark a major diplomatic win for Beijing. President William Lai (賴清德) and his top officials
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
RSS