(Xinhua is the official news agency of the PRC)

LHASA, 07/29/97 (Xinhua) -- The Tibet Library, which opened to the public in the capital of the Tibet Autonomous Region last July, has developed into a place for the study of Tibetan culture and traditions. It now has nearly 600,000 books in its collection, and will serve as a centre to protect the rare cultural heritage of the Tibetan people, according to its curator, who noted that any notion that Tibetan culture is likely to be wiped off the face of the earth is nonsense.