Hong Kong Central Library, National and public library in Wan Chai District, Hong Kong
Hong Kong Central Library is a large public facility in Wan Chai District that spans twelve floors with multiple specialized sections. The building houses an Arts Resource Centre, a Reference Library, and areas dedicated to different types of media and learning resources.
The Urban Council planned a flagship central library in the 1990s; the building was designed by Architectural Services Department architect Ho Chiu-fan in a neoclassical style. Construction began in January 1998 and the completion ceremony was held on 22 December 1999. It opened on 17 May 2001, when Chief Executive Tung Chee-hwa officiated and 50,000 people visited on the first day.
The library is a legal deposit library for nine international organisations, including the United Nations, UNESCO, the World Bank and the WTO, whose publications are sent here and made available to the public. Its name also displaced five older "central libraries", renamed as public libraries in 2000s-era rebranding.
The library sits between Tin Hau and Causeway Bay MTR stations at 66 Causeway Road, facing Victoria Park. It opens 10:00–21:00 most days, from 13:00 on Wednesdays, and closes early at 17:00 on New Year's Eve, Lunar New Year's Eve, Mid-Autumn Festival and Christmas Eve. A book drop outside accepts returns when the library is shut.
The arch over the front facade is called the Gate to Knowledge: its circle stands for the sky, the square for the land and the triangle for knowledge piling up. The building was designed by Architectural Services Department architect Ho Chiu-fan in a neoclassical style, and the geometric motifs recur inside and out.
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