The photo shows staff at a library in Zhenyuan county, Gansu Province burning books. Photo: Web

Local government in Zhenyuan county, Northwest China's Gansu Province, has severely criticized the misconduct of the local library for burning 65 "illegal, pirated and deviant" publications, which has aroused growing public attention lately.

The authority has vowed to investigate the matter and hold those involved accountable, according to an official statement published on its website.

A picture showing staff at a library in Gansu burning books went viral on social networks in recent days. Such behavior also sparked controversy as many questioned whether it was civilized behavior.

The library said in a previous post that it had "thoroughly checked books, videos and photos donated to the library and quickly destroyed the illegal publications among them." A photo attached to that post showed two female workers burning books in front of the library.

"This is showing off," a netizen said in a Weibo post. Illegal books should be dealt with, but not in a way that flaunts political point-scoring. Burning materials also pollutes the environment, the netizen named Li Qing said.

After the incident, the county Party committee and county government severely criticized the library's improper handling of pirated illegal publications saying there will be an in-depth investigation and those responsible will be held accountable. In future, the county's library system should further strengthen management and deal with matters in accordance with regulations to prevent similar incidents from happening again.

The destruction of illegal books should not be done by the library, but should be carried out by the relevant government agencies of the local cultural management department after the books are judged to be illegal publications and are sealed and handled uniformly, Zhu Wei, a communications researcher at the China University of Political Science and Law, told the Global Times on Tuesday.

"Books are a carrier of knowledge and culture. The library is a treasure trove of culture. Library staff should treat books properly in accordance with the concept of respecting culture and knowledge. Destroying books by burning leads to serious social consequences," he said, noting that people could relate it to the practice of burning books and burying scholars alive during the Qin Dynasty (221 BC-206 BC), which may lead to social panic.

Destroying illegal publications through incineration by an individual cultural institution is not common practice in China. To crack down on illegal publications and destroy collectively pirated and illegal publications is usually an action coordinated by several watchdogs such as General Administration of Press and Publication, Copyright Administration and so on.