The central library of the Lihu campus of the Shenzhen University (SZU) was officially put into use Saturday.

The exterior of the library.

The library covers a construction area of 41,774 square meters, with the maximum collection capacity of 3 million volumes.

It also built a smart vertical book stack, the first of its kind among libraries in Chinese mainland universities.

The vertical book stack, equipped with a smart warehouse system, combines logistics and library technologies, and can provide students and teachers with efficient and accurate documentation services, according to SZU.

Mao Junfa, president of SZU, said during a ceremony Saturday that the library is like the heart of a university. The library construction is highly important for the university’s scientific research and talent cultivation.

An aerial view of the library.

From a bird’s-eye view, the central library resembles a giant letter K, symbolizing a key to knowledge. Moreover, the library is divided into two areas — a silent area for quiet study and a dynamic area for activities such as group discussions and cultural salons.

The library also adopts smart systems for daily management and supervision, and its furniture is made from green materials.

Two students study in the library.

SZU now has a total of four libraries on its two campuses in Nanshan District. As of last December, SZU libraries had more than 4.4 million printed books in its collection. The total library areas of SZU are now among the top 10 universities on the Chinese mainland, according to SZU.