The county-level central-branch library system plays a major catalyzing role in balancing the urban and rural development of library services in China. Based on existing practices and experience, counties should be considered as units suitable in terms of administrative division, administrative jurisdiction and financial management for establishing the county level central-branch library system. To enable the establishment and full development of the system, a series of measures are suggested in this study. 1) Facility construction: making coordinated and overall use of all kinds of public facilities and other infrastructure in urban and rural areas; 2) resource guarantee: making coordinated and overall use of library procurement funds at the county level through the full circulation of books and services and the integration of all available resources within the system; 3) service delivery: promoting library services by urban-rural integrated provision of freely accessible events; 4) operational management: making clear division of responsibilities in operation between central and branch libraries. In addition, it is necessary to get support and assistance from provincial-and municipality-level libraries as well as county-level culture centers. Meanwhile, the county-level libraries should strengthen their service capacity building, improve the professional training system for their primary-level employees and attract specialized social organizations to participate in their operation and management.
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