The Beijing Center’s Library Updated; Now Globally Searchable
Beijing, China (November 4, 2022) — In its first major update in twelve years, The Beijing Center’s Anton Library of almost 30,000 English books on and about China is now available to be perused online by anyone, regardless of membership status.
“We’re very excited to offer this to researchers and students around the world,” said Dr. Simon Koo, executive director of The Beijing Center (TBC). “Our dedication to expanding the knowledge of the past, present, and future has been part of TBC’s mission for the past twenty-five years, and it’s been a great honor to be the first touchpoint for many renowned scholars.”
The Anton Library is the largest collection of books in English on China in Mainland China, with collections including but not limited to World Religions, Women’s Studies, Nature and Conservation, Education, Chinese Poetry, War History, Business and Development, and Traditional Chinese Medicine.
“The Beijing Center teaches in the Ignatian tradition, and in that tradition, we are so proud to have The Anton Library that has seen countless scholars-in-residence, Jesuit researchers, honored guests, students from around the world, and of course our over two thousand semester program alumni,” said Amber Wang, Assistant Dean of Academics and Research. “To let the world in to see what we have is a great accomplishment and something we’ve been working hard to bring about.”
The Anton Library was dedicated to The Beijing Center’s founder Fr. Ron Anton in 2009. The library collection began at TBC’s founding in 1998 with just seventy books, which grew to 17,000 in those ten years and now has over 27,000 items in the collection.
In addition, TBC has amassed a large collection of primary sources and historical documents dating back to 1588 in multiple languages such as Portuguese, French, Spanish and Latin in the “How the West Learned of China” special collection, including many maps and works by Jesuit missionaries. Other collections include twenty-five first editions of Quotations of Mao Tse-Tung, often called the “Little Red Book,” in various languages and the personal library of Dr. Michel Oksenberg, former advisor to US President Jimmy Carter on China. Highlights of the historical collection can be viewed here and searched by title or author here.
TBC’s online database is available in both English and Chinese, and can be accessed at http://library.thebeijingcenter.org without registering an account. In addition, The Anton Library is open to partnership through inter-library loan, joint listing, and other opportunities to share our collected knowledge. For partnership inquiries or to physically borrow a book, interested parties can reach out to [email protected]. The Anton Library is not open to the general public at this time, but appointments can be arranged.
About TBC
The Beijing Center was established in 1998 to be a hub for the international Jesuit higher education network in mainland China, an organization that serves the community, and the intellectual apostolate of the Chinese Province of the Society of Friends of Jesus. As a not-for-profit higher education institution, both international and domestic students take accredited classes held at United States-university level rigor. Upholding a tradition built over centuries of friendship, The Beijing Center builds bridges between China and the rest of the world through a passion for education, service, and engagement.
