National Library to launch China Memory Project

CNS (Beijing) – The National Library of China planned to commence the Chinese Memory Project to collect, sort, conserve and spread collective and individual memories about significant events and figures in Chinese history, it said on Thursday.

The first phase of the national project will collect memories based on themes and establish a website to gather and share people's memories. It will adopt several methods to ensure an all-people-in campaign, including re-exploring library literature, collecting items, gathering oral histories as well as video and photographic materials and material manuscripts.

China Memory will supplement the traditional library collection, said its chairman Zhou Heping.

UNESCO launched the World Memory Project in 1992, which attached great importance to the preservation and wide distribution of world literature and cultural heritages, said library official Tang Gengsheng.

Tang added that it is common now for many foreign institutes to organize people to collect the memories of their nation, for instance, the US Memory by Library of Congress, and the Netherlands Memory by the Royal Library.