In October 1971, hundreds of CUHK staff and students formed a human chain to move 120,000 books from the old Chung Chi College Library to the new Elisabeth Luce Moore Library, located 900 metres away. The removal remains vivid in the memories of many CUHK old-timers. Dr. Philip Shen, for example, regarded it as the most memorable event in his long teaching career at Chung Chi.

Forty-one Octobers later, thousands of CUHK staff and students took more than 10,000 books for free or in barter exchanges at the Homecoming Book Festival. As Chow Po-chung, convener of the Committee on the University Lecture on Civility, says ‘The book festival was meant to keep books circulating and knowledge spreading, from the older generations to the younger generations of CUHK members, thus giving old books a new life.’

As knowledge spreads, time passes. This issue’s ‘Then vs Now’ shows the metamorphosis of paddy fields into a modern university campus, which generations of CUHK members call home. In the libraries or canteens of this campus where hills meet the sea, they study, think, debate, explore, and indulge themselves in bibliophilism.

Also in October, the Learning Garden and Learning Commons situated respectively in the lower ground of the University Library and the sixth floor of the Wu Ho Man Yuen Building opened, providing students with more places for studying and exchanging ideas. With these facilities in place, the University will surely see the expansion of the fellowship of bibliophiles on its campus.