National first-class library

The national first-class, first-level or first-grade libraries (in ) are state-level libraries that have been deliberated and decided upon by the State Council of the People's Republic of China. The seventh evaluation was conducted in 2023.

Requirements
National first-level libraries must meet six standards:


 * The building area should not be less than 6,000 square meters.
 * The annual subsidy funding should not be less than 800,000 RMB.
 * The ratio of staff with a college degree or above should not be less than 60% of the total workforce.
 * The annual total number of books added to the collection should not be less than 5,000.
 * The annual number of books lent outside should not be less than 200,000 times.
 * The score for "modern technology equipment, database construction, and automation network construction" evaluation should not be less than 80 points.

History
On June 22, 2005, the Ministry of Culture of the People's Republic of China announced a list in "Decision of the Ministry of Culture on Naming First, Second, and Third-class Libraries," naming 344 libraries as "first-class libraries," 412 libraries as "second-class libraries," and 684 libraries as "third-class libraries."

In 2009, the Ministry of Culture decided to conduct the fourth evaluation, with 480 first-class libraries, 410 second-class libraries, and 894 third-class libraries.

The fifth evaluation was conducted in 2013, with 859 first-class libraries, 640 second-class libraries, and 731 third-class libraries.

In May 2018, the sixth evaluation was conducted, with 969 first-class libraries, 519 second-class libraries, and 1,034 third-class libraries.

The seventh evaluation was conducted in December 2023, with 1,302 first-class libraries, 680 second-class libraries, and 741 third-class libraries.