During this visit, we did three main things: exchange ideas with Harvard scholars and teachers on issues related to grassroots governance in China; visit Several Harvard Libraries; and attend lectures on The Belt and Road. Personally, the most touching part of my trip was the Harvard Library. We were given access to six libraries, and due to our schedule, we ended up visiting only three of them: the Widener Library, the Lamont Library and the Harvard-Yenching Library
Widener Library,
Starting with the most iconic looking Widener library. The library was founded by a mother to honor her son, Widener, a Harvard student and book collector, whose will was to donate his collection of books to Harvard. The facade of the Widener Library is one of the most imposing of Harvard's libraries, with stone steps about ten meter high that lead to a pilgrimage to the library. Entering the library, the interior decoration is not disappointing at all, the desks, chairs and bookcases are made of dark solid wood, giving a deep sense of history; the modelling of the classical table lamp is very delicate, pull to open, the light soft and evenly sprays on the table. The books on the shelves are neatly sorted by subject and alphabetized, and most of the books is as thick as an Oxford English Chinese Dictionary. The main library is full of books, which collect every knowledge point in every subject. Many of the books are explained and expanded from A-Z terms, just like an encyclopedia of a single branch of subject.
the Lamont Library
Lamont Library, looks less like a library but more like a cafe, with a simple glass wall that allows you to see inside. Its collection is mainly literature-related. Wandering around the museum, you can see a lot of English famous writings’ early printed edition. The collection features authoritative printed copies of a book from year to year, so when you look for a book, you find a row of books. I picked up an early printed copy of Beowulf and sat down to read the words. The décor is minimal, but the atmosphere is as quiet and serious as Widener's.
Harvard-Yenching Library
As the last one I visited, was also one of the most impressive. It is located in the Harvard-Yenching Institute, and divided into three levels, the lowest level has a larger study reading space, arranged with tables and chairs; the space between the shelves is very small, only allow one person to pass. Because of the Special Fund of Harvard-yenching Institute, the institution is not responsible to Harvard, and the management of the library does not enter into the Unified Library Management System of Harvard, which is the special aspect of the management of Harvard-Yenching Library. Harvard-Yenching Institue's Research Direction is Asian-oriented research, so their collection is highly targeted, mainly Asian-related research. At the same time, the Chinese and Japanese books collection in the library is also very rich, including all aspects of Chinese and Japanese society. It is hard to imagine how deep and specific their understanding of China would be with such a rich collection of books and materials.
