Gangdong Residents Borrow New Books Without a Library Directly from Local Bookstores?

Gangdong-gu · Neighborhood Bookstore Cooperative Signs Agreement for 'Hope Book Direct Loan' Project... Borrow Up to 2 Books per Month for 14 Days from Local Bookstores

Agreement Ceremony for Direct Loan of Requested Books

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Gangdong-gu (Mayor Lee Jeong-hoon) is establishing a ‘Hope Book Direct Loan’ service system that allows residents to borrow books they want to read directly from local neighborhood bookstores.

To provide the service, Gangdong-gu signed a business operation agreement on April 1 with the local neighborhood bookstore cooperative, ‘Saram-i Areumdaun Dongne Bookstore Cooperative.’

Through this service, residents can borrow new or unowned books at Gangdong-gu public libraries from local neighborhood bookstores. After system construction and pilot operation in April, the service is scheduled to be officially launched in May.

The service is available to regular members of public libraries, who can borrow up to two books per person per month for 14 days.

By accessing the Hope Book Direct Loan menu on the Gangdong-gu Integrated Library website, users can select a nearby local bookstore and request the desired book, after which the library sends a notification text message.

Although some books already held in multiple copies by Gangdong-gu public libraries, such as comics and exam preparation books, are excluded from the service, the loan period for popular new books will be significantly shortened to provide convenience to residents.

While a hope book request system has been in place, it was regrettable that it took nearly two weeks from purchasing the book to registering it in the library collection.

The ‘Hope Book Direct Loan’ solves this problem, allowing users to borrow books they want to read regardless of whether others have borrowed them. It is expected that office workers who find it difficult to visit libraries regularly will be able to borrow desired books directly from neighborhood bookstores instead of libraries.

Neighborhood bookstores participating in the service operation agreement also have high expectations. Amid reduced sales due to COVID-19, this service is expected not only to increase sales but also to enhance their role as cultural spaces in the community.

Lee Jeong-hoon, Mayor of Gangdong-gu, said, “Through the Hope Book Direct Loan service, residents will be able to enjoy library services more conveniently,” and added, “We expect this to revitalize neighborhood bookstores that have suffered sales impacts due to social distancing.”

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