Half of Gyeonggi-do's 'Excellent Libraries' Are Here

Yongin City Secures 6 Out of 12 Excellent Public Libraries in Provincial Public Library Evaluation
Including Guseong, Giheung, Namsa, Mohyeon, Bora, and Idong Kkumteul

Gyeonggi Province selected 6 out of 12 excellent libraries through this year's public library operation evaluation, with half of them located in Yongin City. It is considered unusual for excellent libraries to be concentrated in a specific local government among the 31 cities and counties in the province.

According to Yongin City on the 20th, in the recent '2024 Public Library Operation Evaluation' by Gyeonggi Province, the city was selected as an excellent city/county, and six libraries in the area?Guseong, Giheung, Namsa, Mohyeon, Bora, and Idong Kkumteul?were chosen as 'Excellent Libraries.'

A view of Namsa Library in Namsa-eup, Cheoin-gu, Yongin. Namsa Library was selected as one of the 12 'Excellent Libraries' in the Gyeonggi-do evaluation.
[Photo by Yongin City]

This evaluation was conducted on 283 libraries across 31 cities and counties in the province. Based on 12 criteria including library budget increase rate, collection completeness, director’s expertise, space and facility innovation, community cooperation, and excellent cases of reading culture promotion, as well as expert evaluations and the operation evaluation committee’s review, 10 excellent cities/counties and 12 excellent libraries were selected.

The city explained that it received high scores for operating various reading and cultural programs by selecting specialized themes for each public library. Giheung Library operates a specialized bookshelf with the theme of 'Career and Employment,' Namsa Library with 'Horticulture,' Mohyeon Library with 'Webtoon,' Bora Library with 'Tradition,' and Guseong Library with 'Silver,' providing related programs accordingly.

In addition, efforts to transform libraries into complex cultural spaces and enhance user convenience, such as expanding interlibrary loan services to five times a week, expanding smart libraries, and implementing a direct loan system for requested books, have also attracted attention.

Previously, Yongin City was recognized as the top city in Gyeonggi Province for book loans for six consecutive years through such differentiated library operations. Currently, 19 public libraries are operating in Yongin City.

Lee Sang-il, mayor of Yongin City, said, "We will continue to spare no support so that citizens can not only borrow and read books at libraries but also experience various cultures and enrich their lives."

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