Beijing Party Chief serves as library volunteer

The Communist Party Chief in Beijing Guo Jinlong is seen arranging returned books at Capital Library in Beijing on Saturday, April 19, 2014. [Photo/Beijing Morning Post]

The Communist Party Chief in Beijing Guo Jinlong appeared unannounced and served as a volunteer librarian at Beijing's Capital Library for an hour on Saturday ahead of the upcoming World Reading Day, the Beijing Morning Post reports.

The municipal party secretary made his low-key appearance at the searching hall on the second floor of the library, where he was seen helped readers use the library computers to search for books. He then went to a reading and borrowing room to arrange returned books in front of bookshelves with the help of other volunteers.

Guo worked as a volunteer for around one hour, during which time he remained unrecognized by readers.

Ni Xiaojian, chief librarian at the Capital Library noted that such displays of participation in library volunteer activities by municipal leaders may encourage more people to work as volunteers and inspire public passion for reading.

"The Capital Library has an average flow of 10,000 readers every day, while there are over 3,600 registered volunteers serving these readers", said Ni.