Spotlights(Vol.41 No.4)

In early 2010, the National Central Library (NCL) signed an academic cooperation agreement with the head of the Society of Jesus, Chinese Province, Fr. Louis Gendron S.J. Under the agreement, the Taipei Ricci Institute of the Society of Jesus donated over 30,000 volumes of Chinese and western language publications for permanent deposit at the NCL. The NCL established a 'Matteo Ricci and Pacific Studies Reading Room' to house the collection, representing one of Taiwan's most significant international cultural exchanges in nearly a decade. After months of planning, the NCL officially opened the new reading room with a ceremony this May, coinciding with the 400th anniversary of the death of Matteo Ricci. Co-presided by NCL Director-general Karl Min Ku and the Taipei Ricci Institute's Ft. Benoît Vermander, the ceremony attracted a strong turn out of VIPs.