The total number of seats in the reading rooms of public libraries in my country is only 1,264,700, with an average of more than 1,000 people having one seat.

"It's hard to find a place to study"

  Our reporter Tao Wen

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  According to the "China Statistical Yearbook 2021" released by the National Bureau of Statistics, there are a total of 1.2647 million seats in the reading room of public libraries in my country, and an average of more than 1,000 people have one library seat.

  Before the paid study room was temporarily closed due to the new crown pneumonia epidemic, at 9:00 pm every Saturday, Shang Xuhong ended a day of study, carried a backpack and rode a shared bicycle back.

Behind him, the paid study room was still brightly lit.

In November 2020, 26-year-old Shang Xuhong came to Beijing from Tianshui, Gansu, and became an outsourced employee of a well-known state-owned enterprise, doing program development work.

"The biggest feature of this industry is that the technology is updated and iterated quickly, and there are new challenges every day. If it is not charged in time, it will not be able to continue." Shang Xuhong said.

  In order to cope with the pressure of work, Shang Xuhong works almost 12 hours a day. Every weekend, he will take a day to study in the paid study room.

This paid study room is only a 30-minute bus ride away from where Shang Xuhong rents. When the weather is good, he can ride a shared bicycle back and forth.

  Paid study room fees are getting higher and higher

  Wang Lin, a partner of the paid study room, said that most of the people who study here are professionals who want to take advantage of the holidays to recharge their studies. Some are for examinations, postgraduate entrance examinations, and public examinations, and some are for changing jobs and need a cooling-off period.

However, after the "double reduction" policy, many middle and high school students also began to move to self-study rooms, and parents paid for their children to take online classes and do homework here.

  In the past two years, paid study rooms have blossomed in major cities in China.

Data from iiMedia Research shows that the number of users of paid study rooms in China is increasing year by year.

In 2020, the market size of China's paid self-study room will reach 16.747 billion yuan, and it is expected to be close to 40 billion yuan in 2022.

  According to statistics, in 2019, there were more than 5,000 self-study rooms across the country.

Since the epidemic, there has been a blowout trend of self-study rooms. The number of new ones in 2020 exceeded 8,000. As of March 2021, there were about 16,000 self-study rooms nationwide.

Starting from the study room where Shang Xuhong is located, search in the map software, and there are 24 within 5 kilometers.

  Guo Meimei, who also works as a program developer in Beijing, is also a frequent visitor to the paid study room, where she prepares for the teacher's qualification certificate.

On weekends, Guo Meimei basically spends the whole day in the study room, and when she does not work overtime on weekdays, she also goes to study for a few hours.

  Guo Meimei said that those who are willing to spend money to go to the study room basically have real learning needs, so the learning atmosphere here is better. "When you want to play, think about spending so much money, and you will force yourself to learn." , Although she was quite satisfied with the learning results in the past six months, she still couldn't help complaining that the fees for paid study rooms were getting higher and higher.

  "It was relatively cheap at first, and you could study there for about 20 yuan for a day. Later, the price gradually increased. Now it's only 50 or 60 yuan at the end of the day." She made a rough calculation and learned at most three or four after get off work on weekdays. Hours, so it is more cost-effective to buy a long-term card. I used to study for a whole day on weekends and use the second card, but even if she is careful, she has spent more than 1,000 yuan on this expenditure in half a year.

  The library often fails to book a seat

  After work, what Shang Xuhong is not used to is that "sometimes it is difficult to find a place to study".

Public libraries are crowded with self-study seats, and there are few devices that can charge computers and other electronic learning devices.

Since the epidemic, many libraries have restricted the flow of people, often unable to book seats. Some profitable bookstores must consume in the store to use the seats, and some can only read the books in the store...

  According to the "China Statistical Yearbook 2021" released by the National Bureau of Statistics, there are a total of 1.2647 million seats in the reading room of public libraries in my country, and an average of more than 1,000 people have one library seat.

This proportion is not high even in first-tier cities. Beijing has 16,275 public library reading room seats, with a permanent population of 21.893 million, and an average of 1,345 people share a public library reading room seat.

  On the one hand, there is a strong need for learning, and on the other hand, there is a cramped learning environment. For a while, Shang Xuhong was quite distressed by this.

In September last year, when he learned that there were several new paid study rooms near where he lived, Shang Xuhong went to "investigate" the first time.

He found that these newly opened paid study room services did a good job, but the prices were indeed not cheap.

After weighing it again and again, Shang Xuhong finally chose a paid study room that is doing activities for new customers, 10 times the card, 599 yuan.

  Want a quiet learning environment

  Wang Lin said that with the increasingly fierce market competition, in order to attract consumers, paid study rooms should provide more thoughtful and refined services, and fees will naturally rise.

The rule he set for his employees is to have 4 to 5 innovative service points every day, and strive to become the "Haidilao" in the study room industry.

  After a few months, Shang Xuhong bluntly stated that his expenses in the study room were almost equal to one month's rent, "Actually, for those of us who work hard in big cities, a simple learning environment is enough. There aren't that many extras, but the reality is that a lot of paid study rooms are bundling extras with study seats."

  Shang Xuhong is very clear that going to the paid study room is actually paying for self-discipline, "Compared to studying in a rental house for 1 minute, sleeping for 2 minutes, and playing for 3 minutes, the efficiency is indeed higher in the study room, but I hope that in the future There can be more inclusive study rooms, so that those who want to learn can have a simple and quiet learning environment."

  Guo Meimei said that choosing a paid study room is a last resort. "If there is a free study space, who is willing to pay for self study?" After getting married the year before, Guo Meimei and her husband came to Beijing from Handan, Hebei to work together. There is only room for a bed, a desk and a cabinet.

She said that in another two years, she will be able to save enough for the down payment to buy a house in her hometown. When she has her own home, she will definitely set aside a room as a study.