The government plans to open 50 new public libraries every year for the next five years, increasing their number to 1,100 by 2018. In line with this, the number of books per capita will also rise to 2.5 over the same period. 

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism (MCST) and the Committee on Library and Information Policy announced their five-year plan to develop the country’s library system on January 14. This is the second such scheme after the first was revealed in 2009. With the vision of creating a “happy life and future” for the citizens, the government set three goals for its policy: to achieve public happiness by helping everyone have access to knowledge and information services, to boost creative powers by building a knowledge ecosystem of learning and researching and, finally, to make the citizenry more well-read and well-rounded by upgrading the country’s knowledge base. 

In its first phase, the government intends to build more libraries and increase the number of books and librarians. It will open 50 libraries a year and increase the number of libraries in the country from 828 in 2012 to 1,100 in 2018. The number of books will also increase from 1.53 per capita in 2012 to 2.5 in 2018. The number of librarians at public libraries will also rise, from 4.2 per library to 6 in 2018, and the number of librarians at school libraries will be increased from 689 to 1,344 over the same period, reducing the number of people per librarian from 14,716 to 7,575. 

In addition, the government plans to provide diverse programs to different age groups. It will offer library introduction programs, such as “Book Start” to pre-school children, and will offer library related classes, cultural programs and career path information to older children and adolescents. Young and middle-aged adults will have access to information related to job searches and starting businesses, as well as to liberal arts related programs. The elderly will benefit from information on health, reemployment and how to start businesses, as well as talent sharing programs. 

The government also plans to open “library service aid centers” at major regional libraries across the country for the disabled and for foreign residents. In addition, it will provide 500 books each to 1,000 libraries in rural areas and in less affluent regions, increasing the supply of materials for the disabled from 5 percent of published material in 2012 to 10 percent by 2018, and open ten centers for multicultural families each year. 

“When the five-year plan is completed in 2018, Korea will be on par with other countries that have a well developed system of public libraries,” said Choi Eun-ju, chairperson of the Committee on Library and Information Policy.