Libraries Not Buying Books... Public Libraries Spend Only 10% of Annual Budget on Materials Purchase

Analysis by Nara Sallim Research Institute... Only 10% of Local Government Libraries and 8.3% of Education Office Libraries Spend on Purchasing Materials
By Region, Gwangju, Jeonbuk, and Daejeon Have the Lowest Proportion of Material Purchase Expenses

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Sejong=Reporter Kwon Haeyoung] It has been revealed that the amount of money spent by public libraries in South Korea on purchasing materials such as books accounts for only 10% of the total library budget. In some regions, only 5% of the total budget is spent on material acquisition, raising concerns that cultural disparities between regions may widen.

According to the National Budget Research Institute on the 19th, from 2017 to 2020, the proportion of the budget allocated to material acquisition in public libraries established by local governments and education offices was on average 10% for local government libraries and 8.3% for education office libraries. This is less than half of the 20-25% recommended by the Korean Library Association for material acquisition expenses.

Looking at the average annual material acquisition budget per public library by region, Busan invested the highest proportion at 1.1 billion KRW, accounting for 11.49% of the total budget. Following were Daegu at 11.45% (1.07 billion KRW), Ulsan at 10.9% (278 million KRW), Sejong at 10.8% (165 million KRW), and Jeju at 10.3% (162 million KRW).

Gwangju had the lowest average annual material acquisition budget per public library at 165.25 million KRW, accounting for only 5.1% of the total budget. Jeonbuk and Daejeon were also at low levels with 6.3% (186.9 million KRW) and 6.9% (188.59 million KRW), respectively.

Researcher Jung Dayeon from the National Budget Research Institute pointed out, "The very low proportion of material acquisition expenses in public libraries is due to the small overall size of library budgets, and a significant portion of the library budget is necessarily spent on personnel and operating costs."

According to the institute, when local government libraries allocate 10% of their budget to material acquisition, personnel costs account for 46% and operating costs 44%. In the case of education office libraries, while 8% was spent on material acquisition, personnel and operating costs accounted for 57% and 35%, respectively. Notably, over the past four years, the budget for local government libraries increased by an average of 3.9% annually, but material acquisition expenses decreased by 1.2% annually, while operating costs increased by 7.7% annually.

Ahead of the presidential election in March, Lee Jae-myung of the Democratic Party proposed expanding library material acquisition budgets, and Yoon Seok-youl of the People Power Party proposed improving children's borrowing procedures. It is pointed out that the next government should increase the total library budget and prepare detailed plans to secure material acquisition funds. Researcher Jung advised, "The library budget should be expanded to increase material acquisition expenses," adding, "To reduce regional disparities, budget guidelines such as securing standards for material acquisition should be established, and systems for material circulation should be improved."

Meanwhile, the number of books per resident based on public libraries in 2020 showed that Sejong (1.56 books), Seoul (1.59 books), and Incheon (1.68 books) were below the national average (2.29 books), ranking among the lowest. The report suggested that this was likely influenced by the population density of these areas. On the other hand, Jeju (3.92 books), Jeonnam (3.56 books), and Gangwon (3.56 books) exceeded three books per resident, having the highest number of books per resident.

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