Seodaemun-gu Provides Audiobook and E-Book Loans to Elderly Living Alone and Welfare Facility Users

Nationwide Public Libraries Launch First 'Visiting Digital Library' Project for Vulnerable Groups

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Seodaemun-gu (Mayor Moon Seok-jin) announced on the 31st that the Seodaemun-gu Public Library will be the first public library nationwide to launch the ‘Visiting Digital Library’ project starting in June, lending audiobooks and e-book devices to elderly living alone and welfare facility users.

Elderly living alone will be lent ‘audiobook devices’ containing content in health, literature, and history. These devices are designed to be easy to use even for seniors unfamiliar with smart devices, and since they read out the book contents, they can also be used by visually impaired individuals.

The district named this service ‘Euneunhan Book Sound’.

Welfare facility users will be lent ‘e-book devices.’ People with disabilities and the elderly can read regardless of time and place, and in addition to the pre-installed content on the devices, they can also access e-books owned by the Seodaemun-gu Public Library. Since these are e-books, users can enlarge the text while reading.

Nine welfare institutions in the district are participating in this project, including Seodaemun Senior Welfare Center, Seodaemun Disabled Welfare Center, Seodaemun Sunshine Disabled Independence Support Center, Seodaemun Deaf Welfare Center, Yeonggwang Visually Impaired Mobile Braille Library, Seodaemun Multicultural Family Support Center, Seodaemun Senior Club, Seodaemun Comprehensive Social Welfare Center, and Yeonhui Senior Leisure Welfare Facility.

The district has prepared 100 units each of ‘audiobook devices’ and ‘e-book devices’ to distribute to welfare institutions. These devices contain content, allowing use regardless of wireless internet connection environment. Detailed operational regulations such as lending periods will be determined by each participating welfare institution.

The district will provide customized training for device use targeting elderly living alone and facility users. Additionally, it plans to monitor device usage to analyze effectiveness and improve services.

At the ‘Visiting Digital Library’ project briefing held recently in the district office’s main conference room, welfare institutions and solution company representatives collaborating on this project shared overall operational details and expressed their expectations.

Moon Seok-jin, Mayor of Seodaemun-gu, said, “In the digital era, we will strive to ensure that vulnerable residents are not excluded or discriminated against in accessing information.”

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