National Taiwan Library

The National Taiwan Library, nestled within No. 4 Park, boasts a history spanning over a century, tracing its origins back to the 'Taiwan Governor-General's Library' from before World War II! Its predecessor, the 'Taiwan Governor-General's Library,' established in 1915, was Taiwan's first modern library, as well as the largest and most extensively stocked library during the Japanese colonial period, bearing the responsibility of guiding library development across the entire island of Taiwan. The origin of its collection can be traced back to the 'Taiwan Bunko' (Taiwan Library Collection) established by the Japanese at the Tamsui Library (the site of the Den'ei Academy during the Qing Dynasty). By the time of the war, the collection had grown to approximately 200,000 Chinese, Japanese, and Western books. The Taiwan Governor-General's Library was located in Shuyuan-cho, Taipei City, in the former lottery bureau building northwest of the Taiwan Governor-General's Office building. During World War II, the library building was bombed and damaged by American forces; fortunately, thanks to the proper evacuation efforts by the then-director Yamanaka Takeshi, most of the collection survived the devastation of the war and remains preserved to this day.