Revisiting the birth of China’s modern special libraries: the Huanghai Institute library as the first indigenous Chinese corporate special library

Purpose This article re-examines the origins of modern special librarianship in China, addressing the unclear understanding of what constituted the country’s earliest indigenous corporate special library. It aims to demonstrate that the Library of the Huanghai Chemical Industry Research Institute (hereinafter the Huanghai Institute Library), established in 1920, represents the first authentic corporate special library founded by Chinese initiative. Design/methodology/approach The study employs historical archival research and institutional analysis. Primary sources include the institute’s reports, contemporary publications, library records and the founders’ biographies. Findings As an integral part of the Yongli–Jiuda–Huanghai industrial cluster, the Huanghai Institute Library pioneered an information service model tailored to scientific research and industrial production. It developed a science and technology document repository aligned with international frontiers, adopted user-centered collection strategies and maintained open-access services well before their widespread adoption. During the War of Resistance against Japan, the library, along with the institute, relocated inland and safeguarded its core literature and experimental archives-a commitment that sustained the foundation of China’s chemical research. After 1949, the library’s collections were incorporated into the national science and technology information system. Originality/value This study clarifies a previously ambiguous understanding of the origins of China’s indigenous corporate special library. By establishing the earliest paradigm for China’s special libraries, the Huanghai Institute Library provides critical evidence for re-examining the history of modern Chinese special librarianship. It reveals the indigenous emergence of specialized information services within China’s private industrial research sector – a finding that revises the conventional narrative of Chinese special library origins.