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412 | Recreation, Sport and the Arts

provide information materials on education and language learning and reference services for education professionals, researchers, and the general public who need to pursue continuing studies in education and related subjects. The Hong Kong Institute of Education provided professional advice on collection planning and development of the centre.

The Libraries@neighbourhood

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the Community Libraries Partnership Scheme was launched in December 2005 to promote reading and lifelong learning in the community. Under the scheme, libraries can make suitable reading materials available to non-profit-making organisations' user groups through the block loan service. To achieve better results on the joint collaboration between the organisations and Hong Kong Public Libraries, libraries also offer them advice on stock management of books. By the end of the year, 472 schools and 77 organisations had joined the scheme.

The public libraries continued to promote and support lifelong learning in the community. In collaboration with the Education and Manpower Bureau, the 'Library Cards for all School Children' scheme was continued to encourage primary school students to use library services. Regular meetings were held with school librarians on the enhancement of library services to support the school reading programmes. In addition, public libraries continued to provide support services to the Project Yi Jin education programme and 16 public libraries stocked course materials of the Open University of Hong Kong, facilitating the pursuit of self-learning by many in the community.

The 'Artwork on Loan' scheme jointly launched with the Hong Kong Arts Development Council continues to prove its popularity among the public. The Arts Resources Centre of the Hong Kong Central Library will keep on working with the council to further expand the collection of works in the coming year.

Reference and Information Services

Reference and information services are provided at the Central Library and the five major libraries the City Hall, Kowloon, Sha Tin, Tsuen Wan and Tuen Mun Public Libraries. The Central Reference Library has a total collection of 910 000 items, providing reference and information services through its six subject departments. It features a comprehensive collection of electronic resources including databases, electronic books, electronic journals and multimedia programmes, all of which are available for online access by the public. The library also holds the permanent collection of books deposited under the Books Registration Ordinance and the depository collections of nine international organisations. Specialised reference services are also provided at the Arts Resources Centre, the Hong Kong Literature Room and the Map Library of the Central Library. During the year, a total of 5 million. reference enquiries were handled by library staff. In addition, the City Hall Public Library offers specialised reference services through its Business and Industry Library, Creativity and Innovation Resource Centre and the Basic Law Library.

Web-based reference services form an integral part of the reference and information services. The Central Library operates an Internet Reference Enquiry Service in collaboration with the Sun Yat-Sen Library of Guangdong Province,