ENG-2017 — Page 394

20

Recreation, Sport, Culture and the Arts

The permanent exhibition halls were closed in 2017 for renovation and the installation of new exhibits. A weatherproof vacuum solar telescope system was installed to capture images of the sun for real-time display in the exhibition halls and streaming on the internet.

Under a Young Astronaut Training Camp, 30 secondary students visited major aerospace facilities in Beijing and Jiuquan from 30 July to 6 August. The trip was jointly organised with the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce, China Astronaut Research and Training Centre and Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre to broaden students' horizons.

Some 422,000 people attended shows in the space theatre, while more than 26,000 took part in the educational and extension programmes.

Hong Kong Film Archive

The Hong Kong Film Archive in Sai Wan Ho offers the permanent exhibition, 'In Memory of Queen's Theatre. It organised three exhibitions in 2017: 'Magic on the Screen: Hong Kong Cinematic Effects, 'The Stars, the Silver Screen and the Period Wardrobe' and 'The Stars, the Silver Screen and the Qipao: More than 181,850 visitors were recorded during the year.

The archive is duplicating the film scripts and censor documents of late-1950s Hong Kong films. from the New York State Archives.

In 2017, it acquired 112 films and 19,527 film-related materials, including picture negatives, soundtracks, subtitles, inter-negatives, inter-positives, film prints, magnetic tapes and trailers. Major acquisitions included 16mm, 17.5mm and 35mm pre-print materials from 104 titles dating from 1970 to 2007, and 487 film-related materials such as stills, betacam tapes, posters and handbills donated by Star Alliance Movies (HK). Lam Kar Sing Fan Club donated 239 film- related materials such as stills and film programmes. About 1,900 film-related materials such as portraits and handbills were acquired from Film Biweekly Publishing House.

Public Libraries

The department operates 70 static and 12 mobile libraries and a books registration office. The libraries hold 13.04 million books and more than 1.86 million items of multimedia material, serving almost 4.53 million registered book borrowers and lending more than 50.25 million. books and other library materials in 2017.

Hong Kong Central Library

The Hong Kong Central Library is a major information and cultural centre, with a stock of more than 2.72 million books and other reading materials, multimedia facilities, a central reference library with six subject departments, an arts resource centre, a Hong Kong literature room, a map library, a language learning centre, a young adults library and a toy library. It offers for hire a 1,540 square metre exhibition gallery, a 290-seat lecture theatre, two activity rooms, a music practice room and eight discussion rooms.

The Central Library organises cultural programmes and public lectures, and promotes library resources and a culture of reading.

318