'58 Years of Legal Deposit History' National Library of Korea Unveils Selected Materials at Seoul International Book Fair

The National Library of Korea will participate in the '2023 Seoul International Book Fair' held at COEX, Seoul from the 14th to the 18th, promoting the role and value of K-Libraries to the domestic and international publishing industry.

The National Library of Korea plans to showcase national treasures and treasure-level old books, comics and textbooks from the 1950s to 1980s, immersive content, and augmented reality (AR) book cards through its legal deposit system. As of 2023, the materials collected through the legal deposit system, implemented in 1965, amount to 14 million volumes.

[Photo by National Library of Korea]

Among the old books, the library will exhibit facsimiles of UNESCO Memory of the World heritage 'Donguibogam (東醫寶鑑)', the metal movable type book 'Sipchilsachan Gogum Tongyo (十七史纂古今通要)' printed in 1412, 43 years before the Gutenberg Bible, as well as national treasure and treasure-level old books such as 'Cheonggudo (靑邱圖)' and 'Seokbosangjeol (釋譜祥節)'. It will also reveal original materials including 'Telshegae (1908)', Korea’s first science fiction collection, and various textbooks and comics from the 1950s to 1980s.

Through the 'immersive map' produced based on the national treasure-level old map 'Suseonjeondo (首善全圖)', the origins and changes of 30 place names in Seoul will be introduced. Visitors can experience content that changes with touch interaction.

Jo Young-joo, Head of the Knowledge Information Management Department at the National Library of Korea, stated, “At this book fair, the National Library of Korea will actively promote the importance of legal deposit in collecting and passing down national knowledge resources to future generations, and showcase the image of a national representative K-Library that approaches the public more closely through various exhibitions and experiences.” She added, “We also plan to actively promote the importance of legal deposit for online materials such as webtoons and web novels, not just printed materials.”

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