Liu Chengqian fell behind in his family in 1933 and had to sell off his collection of books. His collection of books can be roughly divided into four periods: first, before the Anti-Japanese War, the Four Histories of the Song Dynasty and the "Collected Works of Mr. Heshan" published by the Song Dynasty They were sold to Pan Mingxun of Baolitang. The manuscript of "Song Huiyao" was sold to the National Peking Library, which was later photocopied and circulated. Beijing Library). Second, after the outbreak of the Anti-Japanese War, Liu Chengqian transported a large number of precious ancient books to Shanghai, and through the introduction of Zheng Zhenduo and Xu Yusen, he secretly sold the Ming editions to the Chongqing Central Library (now in Taiwan). Third, after the Anti-Japanese War, the Zhejiang University Library purchased 23,000 volumes from the Jiaye Hall collection. Fourth, after liberation, Liu Chengqian donated more than 2,000 ancient books and sold them half to the Fudan University Library. He once laughed at himself: "I gain it, and I lose it." He regretfully violated his promise of "not just hiding it, but passing it on forever."
On the eve of liberation, in order to protect this precious cultural heritage from war, Premier Zhou ordered the library to be protected. In 1951, Liu Chengqian wrote to the Zhejiang Provincial Library: "I would like to donate the books, book plates, and various equipment in the library and its surroundings to your library for permanent preservation." From then on, the library was attached to the Zhejiang Provincial Library.