Gyeonggi-do Operates 53 Unmanned Libraries

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Young-gyu] Gyeonggi Province announced on the 25th that, due to the spread of the 'Novel Coronavirus Infection' (COVID-19), all public libraries in the province are temporarily closed, and various alternative services such as unmanned libraries and reserved book lending services have been prepared.

All public libraries in the province will be closed until the adjustment of the infectious disease crisis level, with the temporary closure of the Guri City Library on the 23rd being the last.

Accordingly, the province will operate 53 unmanned libraries in areas with high foot traffic such as Suwon Station to minimize inconvenience to residents using the libraries.

Public libraries are conducting a 'reserved book lending service' where users apply for books online and then visit the library to pick up disinfected books.

The reserved book lending service is being conducted at 121 locations across 17 cities and counties, so users can check and use it on individual library websites. A total of 698,350 electronic materials from 32 electronic libraries in Gyeonggi Cyber Library and city/county libraries can be borrowed via mobile and PC.

Gyeonggi Cyber Library previously purchased about 340 e-books with 30 million won through early budget execution. As the usage rate of e-books has nearly doubled compared to usual, additional acquisitions are also being considered.

The additional e-books to be purchased will mainly focus on children's and youth books to support students' reading activities.

Furthermore, city and county public libraries are conducting various online reading programs and online lectures to satisfy residents' reading desires.

Goyang City Library Center is conducting an online reading program called '30-Day Online Reading Project,' where participants read, write, and discuss books via social networking services (SNS) for one month from the 25th of this month to the 23rd of next month.

Seongnam City has been operating online reading programs such as online novel relay writing, SNS reading clubs with librarians, and video reading of a book since the 20th.

Ichon City Majang Library is conducting '30 Days of Emotional Poetry Copying,' '50 Days of Home Library,' and '100 Days of Writing Challenge.'

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