Photos of China's futuristic library misrepresented as 'tribute to India's social reformer unveiled in US'

"America opened the world's largest library in the name of India's messiah Dr Bhim Rao Ambedkar. Thanks, America. Hail Bhim, hail India, hail Constitution," reads the Hindi-language caption of a Facebook post shared here on December 16, 2023.

The post features a set of three photos showing a mammoth white building and shelves on the walls filled with rows and rows of books.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 26, 2023

Bhim Rao Ambedkar was a social reformer and political leader who headed the committee that drafted India's constitution. He served as the first minister of law and justice after the country gained independence in 1947 (archived link).

Ambedkar was born on April 14, 1891, in a Dalit household. Dalits are considered the most marginalised section in the Hindu caste hierarchy.

Shortly before his death on December 6, 1956, Ambedkar had converted to Buddhism (archived link).

The post has been shared with similar claims elsewhere on Facebook here, here, and on X here.

The photos shared in the post show the Tianjin Binhai Library in China, however and there have been no credible reports about a library unveiled in the United States in honour of Ambedkar's legacy.

Library in China

A reverse image search on Google found the images published in ArchDaily, an architecture website in 2017 (archived link).

The headline of the report reads, "Tianjin Binhai Library / MVRDV + Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute."

The report says the Tianjin Binhai Library was completed by architects from Dutch firm MVRDV in collaboration with the local Tianjin Urban Planning and Design Institute in 2017.

ArchDaily is a website covering architectural news, competitions and projects, among others (archived link).

Below is the screenshot comparison of the images appearing in false posts (left) and the photos published by ArchDaily (right):

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Screenshot comparison of the images appearing in false post (left) and the photos published by ArchDaily (right) 

The photos were also published in Hong Kong news portal HK01 (archived link).

In its 2017 article, AFP reported that "rows upon rows of book spines" seen in the pictures of Tianjin Binhai Library that went viral on Chinese social media were mostly images printed on aluminium plates making up the backs of the shelves.

The report further said the library has 200,000 books and aims to grow the collection to 1.2 million.

Other media outlets have also reported about the library here, here and here (archived links here, here and here).

Further keyword searches on Google found no credible news reports about any such library being opened in the United States.

However, on October 14, 2023, a statue of Ambedkar was unveiled at Accokeek in the US state of Maryland. At 19 feet, the "Statue of Equality" is the tallest statue of Ambedkar inaugurated outside India (archived link).

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