With an ever-open eye for trends that suggest a re-thinking of the traditional learning environment, I noticed a wonderful project in Beijing, China that pushes the boundaries on a children’s bookstore.

China is rapidly becoming an international hot spot with a growing middle class hungry for western luxuries and comforts.

Beijing children are the latest to be treated to some western style indulgence with Kids Republic, a children’s bookstore that transports it’s pint sized customers into a delightful fairytale world full of color and fantasy - complete with massive story telling screens and play areas.

Could such a delightful and imagine-filled space be an indicator of how school libraries will one day ‘compete’ for the attention of their youngest ‘customers’?