“What on Earth is that?”, is the question to most commonly escape a person’s mouth upon first glimpse of the Jinling Library.
“那到底是什么？”，是人们第一次看到金陵图书馆时最常想出口而出的问题。
For good reason; if Nanjing has any structure more befitting of a place on another world (and there are quite a few), we’ve yet to find it. Yet, the Jinling Library is no recent sci-fi construct; it’s been with us for over a decade.
有充分的理由；如果南京有任何更适合另一个世界的地方的结构（而且有不少），我们还没有找到它。 然而，金陵图书馆不是最近的科幻建築；它和我们在一起十多年了。
Opened on 18 October, 2010, after 5 years of construction, the ultra-modern edifice disguises a long and colourful past.
经过5年的建设，这座超现代建筑于2010年10月18日开放，掩盖了漫长而多彩的过去。
Jinling Library was founded in 1927 but was renamed as the first Nanjing Municipal Library in July of the following year. Another 4 years later saw the library merged with the People’s Science Museum to be again renamed as the Nanjing Municipal Library in September, 1933.
金陵图书馆成立于1927年，但次年7月更名为首个南京市立图书馆。 又4年后，该图书馆于1933年9月与人民科学博物馆合并，再次更名为南京市立图书馆。
A period of stability followed, until the Japanese invasion of 1937. With troops setting fire to the library, most collections were burnt beyond recognition. Of particular loss were records of nobility dating from the start of the Yuan Dynasty to the late Qing Dynasty. Some of the books salvaged from the ashes remain on display to this day.
随后是一段稳定的时期，直到1937年日本入侵。 随着军队放火烧图书馆，大多数藏品被烧得无法辨认。 尤其有损失的是元朝初到清末的貴族記錄。 一些从灰皪中打捞出来的书籍至今仍在展出。
In 1958, the Nanjing municipal government decided to build a new municipal library, but it took until 1980 for the new building, at 262 Changjiang Lu, to be completed and opened, initially named Nanjing People’s Library and latterly restored as the Jinling library. Today, that location is where we find the Nanjing Library.
1958年，南京市政府决定建造一座新的市立图书馆，但直到1980年，位于长江路262号的新建筑才完工并开放，最初名为南京人民图书馆，后来被修复为金陵图书馆。 今天，那个地方就是我们找到南京图书馆的地方。
Back in Hexi, the Jinling Library stands proud today as a fitting element to Nanjing’s culture scene in the new area of Hexi.
回到河西，金陵图书馆今天作为南京河西新地区的文化场景的合适元素而自豪。
Other libraries nearby abound, while Jinling’s lines and colours both contrast and compliment the adjacent Olympic Centre to the east. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for the Shengxun Church that sits directly aside to its north.
附近有很多其他图书馆，而金陵的线条和颜色与东部相邻的奥林匹克中心形成对比和相得益彰。 不幸的是，对于位于其北部的Shengxun教堂来说，不能这么说。
In addition to the regular library facilities, Nanjing’s Jinling Library offers a 24-hour automated-book-return facility, plus a digital reading room and a reading room for the visually impaired.
除了常规图书馆设施外，南京金陵图书馆还提供24小时自动归书设施，以及数字阅览室和视障人士阅览室。