Four Additional 'Smart Libraries' Installed in Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Lee Dong-han] Gwangsan-gu, Gwangju Metropolitan City (District Mayor Kim Sam-ho) announced on the 2nd that it will add four more "Smart Libraries" to provide residents with life-friendly book services.

A "Smart Library" is a vending machine-type, 365-day unmanned automated book lending and return system, which can be used upon membership registration at the Gwangsan District Library.

Since January last year, the district has opened and operated Smart Libraries at Songjeong Park Station subway and Sinchang-dong Administrative Welfare Center.

Each machine is stocked with about 200 books, and the books are replaced every six months.

With the introduction of Smart Libraries, users have been able to easily access books in their daily lives without being restricted by time or place.

As of October last year, a total of 2,067 books were borrowed from the two Smart Libraries in Gwangsan-gu.

As Smart Libraries received great responses from citizens, Gwangsan-gu made efforts to secure additional installation budgets.

As a result, it was selected in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s “2020 U-Library Service Support Project” contest, securing a total project budget of 350 million won including national funds.

Accordingly, the project will start in the first half of the year, installing four libraries in areas with high foot traffic or where library services are difficult to access, operating a total of six libraries.

A Gwangsan-gu official said, “Modern people who find it difficult to use libraries in their busy lives can now easily access books through Smart Libraries,” adding, “We will continue to strive to promote the reading culture among citizens.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.