The protection of ancient books protects the mountains and rivers on paper and the spring and autumn on paper. Recently, the ten major events of cultural development in Sichuan Province in 2025 were officially announced, and "the first local legislation on the protection of ancient books and the protection of civilization's torch through books" was selected among them. Du Juan, Deputy Director of the Ancient Books Department and Ancient Books Cataloger at the Sichuan Provincial Library (Sichuan Ancient Books Protection Center), shared his insights at the launch ceremony: "Sichuan's ancient book work is opening a new chapter with the protection of the rule of law." In 2025, the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress approved the "Regulations on the Protection and Utilization of Ancient Books in Sichuan Province" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations"). This is the first local regulation on the protection and utilization of ancient books in China, marking that Sichuan's ancient book work has taken the lead in the country to enter the legal track of regulating the protection and utilization with specialized regulations. The Regulation has officially come into effect on January 1, 2026. Sichuan is a province with a large collection of ancient books. The provincial census found about 230000 ancient Chinese books and 1.87 million ethnic ancient books, ranking among the top in the country in terms of quantity. During the 14th Five Year Plan period, Sichuan completed nearly 200 projects for the census, restoration, and revitalization of ancient books, and salvaged more than 40000 precious ancient books, achieving significant results in ancient book work. Xu Jianqun said that the climate in Sichuan is humid and hot, and ancient books are susceptible to problems such as insect infestations, mold, and damage. At the same time, ancient books are distributed in multiple places such as public libraries, museums, universities, archives and local chronicles, temples and Taoist temples, involving various industries and departments such as culture and tourism, education, folk religion, traditional Chinese medicine, archives, local chronicles, and news publishing. Sometimes, there are also situations of "nine dragon water control" in the work. Research has found that out of the 138 registered ancient book collection units in Sichuan Province, only 50 meet the basic requirements of the ancient book special collection library, and only 12 have sustained funding investment. The timely promulgation of the Regulations provides strong guarantees for solving these problems. Yang He, Deputy Director of the Legal Work Committee of the Standing Committee of the Sichuan Provincial People's Congress, said that the Regulation strengthens the responsibilities of relevant departments and institutions, clarifies the strengthening of preventive protection, salvage protection, graded protection, and safety prevention, and enables the work of ancient books to move from "emotional responsibility" to "statutory duty". The Regulation particularly emphasizes the role of technology in the protection and utilization of ancient books, encourages technical research related to the restoration of ancient books, leverages the supporting role of technology in the protection and utilization of ancient books, and promotes the transformation and application of scientific and technological achievements in the census, preservation, restoration, organization, research, and utilization of ancient books. In the past, the master disciple inheritance of ancient book restoration techniques relied solely on a passion and responsibility to 'fight alone'. Old masters worry that there will be no one to take on their skills, while young people worry about having no way to learn and no opportunity to practice. ”Luo Hanqi, Deputy Director of the Ancient Books Department of Sichuan Provincial Library and representative inheritor of the provincial-level intangible cultural heritage of "Sichuan Ancient Books Restoration Techniques", said that the implementation of the "Regulations" has laid a solid foundation for this love and responsibility. It has made the inheritance of "master apprentice" skills no longer just a tacit understanding between apprentices and masters, but a standardized talent training model with institutional guarantees, financial support, and platform support. We have identified a collection of works by Wang Anshi in the census, which has a very high value. At first, the collection unit was not aware of its rarity, until it was re evaluated and graded in the census, and it was discovered that it met the national criteria for evaluating precious ancient books. ”Dujuan said that the "Regulations" emphasize promoting the effective utilization of ancient books, so as to avoid the situation where ancient books are "hidden in the boudoir without being known" and collection units are "guarding treasures without knowing it". Next, the Propaganda Department of the Sichuan Provincial Party Committee will integrate the professional strength of universities and research institutions to establish a number of key bases for ancient book research; The Department of Culture and Tourism of Sichuan Province will actively strive to implement a number of demonstrative and leading projects; The Sichuan Provincial Library has constructed a knowledge graph of ancient books, allowing them to be read with one click and viewed on one screen. It has also created special exhibitions and experience activities for ancient book restoration, transforming the revitalization of ancient books from one-way output to two-way interaction; The Ethnic and Religious Affairs Commission of Sichuan Province has deeply excavated the content reflecting the shared spiritual home of the Chinese nation in ancient books such as Tibetan and Yi, and developed immersive experiences and short video courses... Currently, relevant departments in Sichuan have taken action to promote the effective implementation of the "Regulations", so that the ancient books in the silent warehouse can better nourish the present and benefit future generations. (New Society)