this paper briefly introduces the development status, background and prospect of the public librarianship in china. it contains a brief analysis of the basic situation of the public library in china at present according to the data announced by the government, and gives an explanation about china’s public library orientation, working condition, service characteristics and existing problems. in addition, the author provides a detailed description of the library’s present working emphasis in order to present readers with an overall view of the basic condition of china’s public library development at present time.