With the collaboration between the Keelung City Government and Bluebird Bookstore, Taiping Elementary School has been transformed into a humanities and design bookstore, which grandly opened on the afternoon of October 23, 2021. It opens a new aesthetic space for Keelung’s diverse reading, urban imagination and cultural experience. In addition to the Bluebird Bookstore in front of Taiping Elementary School, the middle and rear spaces continue to serve as a platform for public activities and Keelung’s design, consensus and cohesion, and to develop Keelung’s urban vision.
Keelung Mayor Lin Yu-chang, Tsai Jui-shan, CEO of Bluebird Culture Production Co., Ltd., co-founder Chang Tieh-chih, Chen Chien-wen, the last principal of Taiping Elementary School, architects Kuo Hsu-yuan and Huang Hui-mei who revitalized Taiping Elementary School, Chang Chi-yi, director of the Cultural Research Institute, Taiwanese artist Lin Shun-lung, Lin Yu-cheng, founder of Jing Sheng Yu, and many other heavyweight cultural figures from independent bookstores, the cultural and creative industries, and the literary world gathered together to unveil the Taiping Bluebird.
Mayor Lin said that from here you can see the entire Keelung harbor and the beautiful mountain scenery. He also hopes that Bluebird Bookstore will not only be a bookstore, but also a place to create hope and new possibilities for Taiwan and Keelung, turning the impossible into possible and realizing everyone's expectations and ideas. This is the most important meaning behind the establishment of Taiping Bluebird Bookstore in Keelung.
Director Hsu Yen-hsing of the Urban Development Department of the Keelung City Government stated that after Taiping Elementary School ceased enrollment, the city government used the school as a discussion base for major construction projects in Keelung. Many design and construction projects are discussed and conceived here. The "Keelung Designers and Architects' Home" was also established here, becoming a platform for local professionals and top domestic and international designers to envision Keelung. The arrival of Taiping Bluebird is a significant step in opening its doors to the public. This will be an important salon and public space for deepening the Keelung experience, and it is hoped that Taiping Bluebird will promote Keelung's bookstore culture and reading atmosphere, becoming a foundation for the enduring soul of Keelung's mountain and sea city.