The third-generation Chung Chi library was located at the current site of the College Administration Building

When it comes to the places where Chung Chi students visit most often, the library must be one of them. Established in 1951, the first-generation Chung Chi library was actually the one at St. John’s Cathedral in Central, which was borrowed for use on a temporary basis. Later, the College rented the first floor of the Church Guest House as the second-generation library. In 1956, Chung Chi moved to Ma Liu Shui and the third-generation library designed by the architect Mr. Robert Fan was completed. It was a two-storey building located at the current site of the College Administration Building. In response to the increasing number of students, the College soon decided to build a new library (now Elisabeth Luce Moore Library) in the former Ma Liu Shui Village.

The fourth-generation library was designed by the architect Mr. Chau Kai-heem and opened in 1971. The original design was a two-storey building, and an additional floor was built in the 1990s. As the “think tank” for Chung Chi’s teachers and students, the library mainly collects books about religion, education, sports, performing arts, the College general education courses, and local teaching materials collection. In addition, Chung Chi College Archive in the library preserves the College’s historical materials and relics. In 2019, part of the second floor was renovated as the music library for collecting gramophone records, sheet music and music books, musical instruments as well as audio-visual materials donated by Prof. Rulan Chao Pian (1922-2013) from Harvard University. There are music rooms and audio-visual rooms for students’ practice and use. According to the statistics, the Chung Chi library is one of the busiest libraries in CUHK with an annual usage rate of more than 500,000.