Because most of the books had been tampered with or destroyed, the Library of All Things had to mobilize a large amount of manpower and resources to re-collect, organize, and summarize the information and compile new books.
The Library of Everything itself was not profitable before.
The library's operations are mainly supported by donations from society and the wages earned by library members from working outside.
After the war, many chambers of commerce or families, under pressure from their own countries, focused on rebuilding their countries and had no spare money to support a neutral library.
That was also the library's worst time.
Countless library members lived frugally and traveled around, but the restoration of the library was only the tip of the iceberg. It would require more financial and material resources to restore the library, otherwise it would be a long time in the future.
Gradually, some members couldn't stand it anymore and voluntarily left the library to make a living on their own.
Not just one person, but a group of people.
The top management also knew that it was time for reform, so they racked their brains and tried every possible means to keep the library alive.
Finally, an idea came into being.
The knowledge in the library is a huge treasure trove in itself, and it has been provided to all sectors of society almost free of charge so far, which has led to the Library of Everything falling into this situation. If this knowledge can be clearly priced, the library's dilemma will no longer exist.
This behavior of monopolizing knowledge was opposed by many senior officials. They believed that this behavior was contrary to the original concept of the library. As long as the society recovered its prosperity, the library would also prosper. Before that, it was enough to continue to operate according to the previous rules.
Unfortunately, time gave those naive senior executives a loud slap in the face, causing them to fall flat on their faces, leaving them with nothing even left in their underwear.
What made the library's top management even more angry was that those people who had previously treated the library coldly and caused damage to many books now had the audacity to come back and look up information in the library.
Due to staff shortage, a senior member of the library went to receive the man in person.
But that person thought that the senior executive was just a small fry, acting recklessly and ungratefully in front of him.
Due to the man's identity and the terms of the library, the senior executive could not do anything to him. He could only write furiously in grief and anger, and turned everything he had experienced into a novel.
It was that novel that ignited the fuse and the vigorous reform began.
The Library of All Things took action from top to bottom and left to right, classifying all knowledge into different levels and charging for access based on the level.
It was also during that reform that most of the current library systems were established.
Of course, reforms will constantly bring new problems while solving problems, and many of these problems are still troubling library executives.
In order to solve these problems, new reforms are constantly underway.
Listening to Shu Jing's story, Yang Yu finished the parfait in front of him. "In other words, this place has become like this as a result of countless reforms?"
Shu Jing shook her head. "It became like this because they followed the trend of the times. As knowledge was gradually monopolized, this place became the most frequented place for countless nobles and chambers of commerce in order to obtain that knowledge.
If someone were to walk around a library and loudly promote how great his or her product is, it would surely arouse the curiosity of countless wealthy families.
As long as the product is decent, a small opportunity is enough to make a leap forward.”
"So, in order to get this opportunity, countless vendors gathered around the library, and the library took advantage of the situation to create a commercial district here?"
Shu Jing gave a positive answer to Yang Yu's inference, "There are definitely some complicated factors, but to put it simply, this is it.
As long as there was enough sponsorship, the library allowed all kinds of shops to open stores around it. Later, the library even openly enclosed land for sale, and the highest bidder won.
Of course, the library also knows how to make steady progress. The land they have enclosed has a lifespan, and they take a portion of the profits from the business owners every year to maintain the operation of the library."
Damn, this is such a magical realism.
The Library of Everything is a perfect example of a comeback.
It was able to reshape its influence without any external help, and transformed itself from a bus that everyone can use into a unique spaceship that the whole world licks.
However, Yang Yu didn't know whether to say that this method of keeping the library going till today was a kind of stubbornness or a kind of sadness.
Knowing the history of the Library of All Things, Yang Yu has a thorough understanding of the nature of the library.
Free? Free is not possible, not in this life.
I don't know how to do business, and can only rely on sponsorship and collecting tuition to make a living. Sitting there and collecting money feels like heaven. The feeling of being relied upon is much better than being looked down upon!
Everyone who comes to the library is talented and speaks well. I love it here!
If you smell it carefully, you can still smell the stench of capital in the library.
Knowledge was clearly priced, and Yang Yu's intuition told him that if he looked up the knowledge he needed, the price would definitely be an astronomical figure.
"What do you mean by an exam? If you pass the library's exam, can you become a member of the library and read all the knowledge in the library at will?"
"You can say it's like this, but you can also say it's not like this." Shu Jing said, "First of all, you can indeed become a member of the library by passing the exam. But there are two types of library members, one is the ordinary member, and the other is the senior member, generally also called the star member. The scope of what they can read is completely different. Even if they are both senior members, they have different star levels and can read different scopes of knowledge."
"Then what are the conditions for becoming a star member? It's not that you can become stronger just by paying money, right?"
"The conditions and requirements for becoming a star member are very complicated. If you don't want to be involved in the library and really want to become a member of the library, you'd better not know too much. But one thing I can tell you is that as long as you pay enough money, it is indeed possible to become a senior library member."
As she spoke, Shu Jing lowered her eyes.
"Ordinary library members are not completely unable to read higher-level books. Every once in a while, ordinary members will have an opportunity to access more advanced knowledge and browse knowledge that only senior members can browse."
Continuously extracting the information from Shu Jing's words, Yang Yu continued to ask: "Speaking of which, why did you go to the library to take the exam?"
Shu Jing gave a wry smile that was not appropriate for someone of her age, "You can understand this as fighting for the right to continue living near the library.
Library members are also human beings, they will fall in love, get married and have children. Out of humanitarianism, these children will receive education from the library and become the "second generation of library students". After they become adults, they will have five exam opportunities.
If they fail all five tests, they will be expelled to live in the urban area of the library.
But there is a time limit for this. If he or any of his descendants fails to be admitted to the library within a hundred years, they will be completely expelled.
Unfortunately, I am one of those people’s descendants.”
(End of this chapter)