Chinese library accused of stocking pirated books

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A Beijing bookstore, known as one of China's "most beautiful" libraries, has reportedly been found stocking pirated books.

An online article cited a number of examples of well-known collections in Liyuan Library coming from publishers that don’t exist, news that soon spread across Chinese social media platforms.

Photos via Sinabook

The library was designed and built by an architecture professor at Tsinghua University in 2011, but with no money for books at first, the store operated on the principle that visitors donate three books for every book they borrow, according to reports.

Gradually, people began to speak highly of the "low-cost and highly-effective village library", with many praising it as a "very peaceful" oasis to escape the bustle of the city and read.

Photo via Sinabook

Netizens were quick to comment as soon as news of the alleged fake books surfaced.

Some said that the initial book exchange idea was good, but recognized that it needed management in the long term. While others considered the place to be a "scenic spot" rather than an actual library.

“Knowledge is priceless but books have prices,” commented @Afeiaha on Weibo. “It won’t do any good when legal copies were exchanged for pirated ones.”

Photo via Sinabook

Pan Xi, manager of the library, said on Wednesday that she’s a beginner and runs the store part-time, a post she has never held before.

But she also acknowledged that she takes full responsibility for the copyright issue.

In an online statement, she also said that the bookstore will be closed early this weekend so staff can locate and remove the pirated books, welcoming readers in spring next year with a “clean feature”.

The bookstore mainly relies on volunteers and usually only opens from April to October.

In 2015, Business Insider named it one of the 18 greatest libraries in the world.