WeChat announced it has launched a new seat management platform that will help students visiting the library to prevent another student from taking their seats.

Dubbed as WeChat Library, the new platform started its trial operation on Thursday and is currently being tested at Nanjing University. The service will run on the university' official account "Going to the library" on WeChat, an instant message service provider.

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Using the new program, students need not worry over seat snatching as they can now make a seat reservation online, register their presence and make a notification when they leave. Added to that, those who opt to book ahead of time will be given priority to use the seat.

However, students must take the seat reserved and scan the QR code within 20 minutes of the library opening; otherwise, they will be given a violation record.

A time limit of 20 minutes will be observed if they wish to use the toilet, 30 minutes for searching books and 90 minutes to eat their meals, and all this should be logged on the platform to keep the seat reservation.

Any violations from these rules will be added to the student's records, and those who commit a maximum of three offenses will be blacklisted from the library.

Many students have given their support to the new platform, which they see as useful in addressing the long debated issue of seat snatching in some libraries. Meanwhile, others argued that the new rules are too strict and not everyone is self-disciplined enough to conform.

TagsWeChat, WeChat Library, seat management, Nanjing University, seat snatching, Library