Taipei Tech Guang Hua Building, where National Taiwan Library (hereafter NTL) was situated, celebrated its sixtieth anniversary since 1959. On 9 April 2019, Taipei Tech Department of Cultural Vocational Development and NTL co-hosted the exhibition Zheng Ben Shi ‘Book Binding Affairs’ to commemorate this special moment.

The exhibition introduces the typical methods for book designs and preservation in the East and the West, the binding instruments, and the one-century book collections of Taipei Tech library since 1912. The exhibits include the old books restored in a wide range of book design styles, like the Chinese stitch binding in Sung Dynasty, the Japanese Yamato stitch binding, and the Western saw binding. Meanwhile, the DIY workshop also took place at Taipei Tech Red House offering the tutorials for the audience to have a go at their own bookbinding. 

National Taiwan Library, founded in 1915, was located in Guang Hua Building Taipei Tech, and moved to Chunghe in New Taipei City later in 1959. The building has since changed to the department building for Taipei Tech Electro-Optical Engineering. NTL has been housing plenty of important documents in Taiwan. To preserve the cultural assets on this island, the library also set up the Bookbinding Room and the post-war Book Hospital for all the old torn books and documents waiting to be restored.

“As the earliest public library, NTL keeps reaching more readers of all ages,” said Lai Chang Cheng, the NTL Director.

Taipei Tech President Sea Fue Wang indicated that the restoration of the old books in Taipei Tech library is also credited to the Book Hospital of NTL. The Book Hospital restored and rebound these old books with every step digital-photographed and presented along with the works in the exhibition.

“Over one century’s collection of the books and documents, Taipei Tech library is undoubtedly rich in knowledge and cultural accumulation,” President Wang said. “We knew how treasurable these books are when even the National Palace Museum asked for a loan of them.”