Gwangyang City Library Transitions to Operation in the With-Corona Era

Removing Usage Restrictions on Reading Rooms and Archives, Activating Programs

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik] The Gwangyang City Library in Jeollanam-do is attracting attention by completely transforming its library operation system, which had been maintained for over a year, in response to the "With Corona Era," encouraging people to continue their daily lives while preventing COVID-19.

According to the city library recently, following the government's announcement of the phased recovery plan for daily life on the 29th of last month and the Jeollanam-do administrative order for the first phase of phased recovery implemented on the 31st, the library announced that it will fully transition its operations to align with citizens' daily lives.

This prompt response by Gwangyang City is interpreted as a determination to carefully maintain the library's role as a complex cultural space within citizens' lives, dispelling concerns that the library's value might have been forgotten due to repeated temporary closures and reopenings in accordance with the government's phased COVID-19 measures during the transition to the With Corona phase.

First, the city library has resumed opening its reading rooms from 8 a.m. starting this month, as stipulated in the ordinance on the operation of Gwangyang City Library, reversing the previous COVID-19 measure of opening one hour later in the morning.

Regarding this, a citizen who frequently uses the reading room said, "I visit the library study room almost daily to prepare for certification exams, but there were inconveniences due to temporary closures and delayed opening times depending on the COVID-19 situation. I am grateful that these issues have been resolved."

Currently, the Gwangyang City Library extends its opening hours, with the general reference room open from 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. on weekdays (until 5 p.m. on weekends), and the reading rooms open from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. regardless of weekdays or weekends, receiving positive responses from citizens.

In preparation for any worsening COVID-19 situation, the city library has installed and is operating a smart unmanned library containing 500 books at the entrance of the scenic forest next to the Jeollanam-do Museum of Art, allowing citizens to safely enjoy reading. Additionally, the Hope Library, a children's library, has completed a non-face-to-face reading environment project, including the creation of a digital book experience space.

The smart unmanned library is a book management system that allows borrowing and returning books 365 days a year without time restrictions, even during infectious disease situations like COVID-19. Next year, it will be installed in the Jungma-dong area and further expanded to reading-vulnerable areas with high foot traffic.

Facilities such as lecture rooms, study rooms, and general reference rooms, which previously limited entry to 50% capacity, have lifted these restrictions according to government guidelines, allowing citizens to use them freely.

Programs that had minimized face-to-face sessions and operated in a hybrid or fully non-face-to-face (online) format have now shifted back to face-to-face sessions. However, some lectures preferred non-face-to-face due to ongoing COVID-19 concerns, so both methods will be maintained until the planned course completion to stabilize reading culture programs.

As COVID-19 spread in the local community, demand for e-books and web-version audiobooks surged sharply. Recently, 1,736 titles were purchased to significantly expand the non-face-to-face reading service base. Starting next year, an online system for non-face-to-face reading content will be introduced, providing real-time subscription services for e-books.

Book lending services will be further expanded with the "Book Reading Store," where librarians deliver books directly. Delivery services such as the "Mom Comfortable Library" for pregnant women and infant caregivers, and the "Gri Book Cart" visiting children, are also expected to become more active.

In particular, in line with the COVID-19 daily life, a kiosk that recommends books using AI has been introduced. After a pilot operation of a book rental service that regularly delivers customized books to excellent library members at the Hope Library, plans are in place to expand this service to all city libraries.

Despite these changes, disinfection and preventive measures against COVID-19 continue, including professional disinfection every two months, weekly library disinfection, daily sanitization of entrance doors and stair railings, and regular ventilation of user facilities.

The city library stated that while normalizing operations, common basic preventive measures such as visitor log management (electronic entry logs, Safe Call, etc.), indoor mask-wearing, and temperature checks will continue as before, asking for citizens' understanding and cooperation.

These efforts by the city library are expected to significantly increase the number of library users, which has just surpassed half of pre-COVID-19 levels, compared to the recovery trend in book lending that is approaching pre-pandemic levels.

Bang Gi-tae, Director of the Gwangyang City Childcare Education Center, said, "The transition of the city library toward COVID-19 daily life does not mean the end of COVID-19 but represents a new challenge to overcome infectious disease situations while living with the virus." He added, "Please use the public library a lot so that it can be loved as a healing space for citizens as before."

Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters, Reporter Heo Seon-sik hss79@asiae.co.kr

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