User Statistics
WRITE NEW INTRO Library user statistics
The official statistics of the Taiwan Government-General Library reveal that the vast majority of users were male; one out of three was Taiwanese-Chinese (so-called "hontōjin") and two out of three were Japanese (so-called "naichijin"). When we take into consideration the overall population numbers for Taipei, we can see that Japanese settlers were much more likely to use the library than Taiwanese-Chinese.
Most users viewed their books on site since borrowing books for offsite use required a deposit and was expensive. The library quickly became a place where students prepared for exams, with students constituting the largest group among visitors. The unemployed also visited the library, often to the chagrin of the librarians (Katō et al, Nihon no shokuminchi toshokan, 100, 106). In 1927, children paid 24370 and students 98168 visits to the Taiwan Government-General Library (Patrons older than twelve counted as adults. Patrons between seven and twelve counted as children.). Other occupational groups tracked by the library were: bureaucrats & the military, teachers & clergy, lawyers & doctors, journalists & writers & artists, entrepreneurs, and the unemployed (ADD LINK TO THE CHART?).
Until 1926, artists were counted together with lawyers & doctors. However, starting from 1927 onward they were moved into a new category together with writers & journalists (previously categorized together with teachers & clergy) (Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan, Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan ichiran (1929), 16.). Such shift suggests a recognition of the creative profession as a distinct social category and a user target group. In 1927, artists & writers & journalists paid 291 visits to the Government-General Library, constituting the smallest professional group in the statistical record. By 1934, their number of visits grew to 714. That year, all of these visits were paid by male patrons, roughly one third Taiwanese Chinese, two thirds Japanese (Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan, Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan gairan Shōwa 13nendo, Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan, 1939, pages 16-17). Such numbers reflect male domination within the artistic profession.
Librarians also recorded the number of viewings for each category of books: 1) philosophy, 2) education, 3) literature & language, 4) history and topography, 5) law, economy, society, statistics, colonization, 6) physics, medicine, 7) engineering, military affairs, 8) arts, and 9) industry & household management. In 1927, books from the arts section had a total of 8130 viewings; in 1928, 8476, including 57 of books in western languages and 8419 in Japanese and Chinese (Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan, Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan ichiran (1929), 21.). The number grew slightly and in 1934, the arts section had 10064 viewings (out of these only 53 were dedicated to books in western languages, including 3 viewings by Taiwanese-Chinese patrons and 50 viewings by Japanese patrons) (Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan, Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan gairan Shōwa 13nendo, Taiwan Sōtokufu Toshokan, 1939, pages 18-19). For comparison, the most popular section in the library, literature & language, had 77003 viewings that same year.
The relatively high number of views in the arts category in comparison to the relatively small number of visits paid by artists & writers & journalists suggests two things. First, art related books must have been viewed by patrons of other occupational status as well. Second, some patrons requesting books in the arts category may have actually been looking at books on film, music, sports and other kinds of entertainment, as these also belonged into the arts category.
Statistics provide an aggregate image of library users and leave us with many questions open. For example, as Japanese and Chinese books were counted together, it is impossible to gauge from the available statistical record the popularity of Japanese language books vis-a-vis Chinese language books.