With twenty-four-hour comic rental shops all over Taipei sucking in youngsters like powerful black holes, Mayor Chen Shui-bian thought it was wiser to let the comics come out of the closet.

On July 24, kids, parents and comic artists swarmed into the Chung-lun branch of the Taipei Municipal Library to celebrate the unveiling of Taiwan's first public comic library. Kids are happy that from now on they don't have to make up excuses to their parents for going to a place filled with their dream books. This public library can always be their trump card. On the other hand, parents are happy too because the public library, which is supposed to provide good books and winnow out bad ones, serves as a sanctuary for their children in an indiscriminate world of comic books.

At the opening ceremony of the Chung-lun Library, Mayor Chen used his own experience to illustrate how comics have been misunderstood by many adults. "When I was a kid, my parents and teachers told me not to read comics because comic books were only full of dummies. If you read them, I was told, you would become a bad child. But the school library, which had Chu-ke-szu-lang (a Taiwanese action comic series) hung on the wall, was right next to my classroom. I remember I read the whole series. It was thirty years ago, but the memory is still very clear today." He acknowledged that graphic-oriented literature was more immediate than text-oriented literature. Today, pictorial presentations play an important part in children's learning and cognition.

To make sure all visitors can read with comfort in this library, Mayor Chen explicitly announced the enforcement of censorship. "Pornography is strictly prohibited, but comics with battle scenes can be tolerated on the condition that a sound rating system be implemented."

However, according to Cheng Ching-hsin, Chung-lun branch librarian, the first public comic library in Taiwan does have an erotic or gory collection. "For the time being," revealed Cheng, "those books are not shelved, but we are planning a restricted access area to house them-and they won't circulate."

Avid readers might complain about the access restrictions, but publishers look more at the bright side of this issue. Su Hsin-yi, editor-in-chief of Ching Win Publisher, expressed his opinion: "By carefully selecting collections and featuring educational comic books, the library can break stereotypes about comics and take comic art to a higher level."

As clear as the classifications were, kids still walked around without restraint from one area to another. When asked why there was no watchman or barrier of any kind to screen the readership, librarian Cheng said that they did not want to be library police. "The readers should be able to enjoy their freedom to read. We expect them to discipline themselves, not only in observing the access rules, but also in respecting the privilege of other readers to access the collection. Despite signs that read 'No more than five books at a time, some readers still like to take out the whole twenty-volume series. As a result, many of our staff members have to work overtime to reshelve the books."

In addition to the increased workload, the staff also have to deal with doubts about the roles of such a library. Publishers and comic rental shops are the first to worry about diminished business. Su observed, "This library will certainly affect the purchase rate of comic publications, since now people know where to go for free comics." Su suggested that the library should target expensive multi-volume series, which comic fans cannot afford, so as not to absorb too many customers from retailers.

By contrast, comic artist Ao Yo-hsiang hoped the library would curb the rampant expansion of comic rental shops. "While pay libraries are booming, publishers are withering," said Ao. "The government should be alarmed that children are getting into the habit of renting instead of buying books and that this will inhibit their cultural development."

Librarian Cheng Ching-hsin clarified the functions of this library. "We are different from a comic rental store. We aim at preserving and promoting local comic works and facilitating research on comic art. Furthermore, the number of copies in circulation is controlled. That is to say, the impact on publishers and rentals has been minimized."