1. Hubei Provincial Key Laboratory for Geological Process Analysis and Simulation, Central China Normal University, Wuhan 430079, China;
2. School of Government, Peking University, Beijing 100871, China
Abstract：As an important component of the basic public cultural service facilities (CSF), the construction of libraries is to facilitate people to read easily and conveniently. 24-hour self-service library (SSL) is a new type of libraries which can not only extend service time, but also expand service scope. While many researchers have studied the spatial distribution of CSF from the comprehensive perspective, there are few studies focusing on the spatial distribution of libraries. In addition, previous studies are rarely based on urban spatial ontology and peoples' movement to study the spatial pattern of urban public CSF. Therefore, this paper, comprehensively applying Kernel density estimation, Ripley's L function, Standard deviation ellipse, Voronoi diagram and Space syntax, studied the spatial effects of the construction of 24-hour SSL in central Wuhan, including overall effect, served area effect and population effect, accessibility effect and through-movement effect. The results show that:1) the construction of 24-hour SSL has changed the spatial pattern of the libraries in central Wuhan from a single-core agglomeration to multiple-core one, showing an spatial pattern of scattering over the whole area while centralizing in sub-areas, and rotated the distribution direction of the libraries from NE-SW to E-W; 2) the construction of 24-hour SSL has decreased the average served area and population, which has in some degree equalized library service, however, there is still room for the improvement of the long tail effect of the 24-hour SSL; 3)the construction of 24-hour SSL has slightly improved the accessibility of the libraries, while significantly enhanced their through-movement, making them closer to and more convenient for more readers. Finally, several suggestions were proposed for the construction and development of 24 hours SSL in the future.
