Expanding Local Bookstore Participation in Public Institution Book Purchases
by Kim Heeyun
Published 30 Apr.2026 08:36(KST)
Culture Ministry Holds Roundtable with Local Bookstores and Libraries
Discusses Institutional Improvements for Public Sector Book Purchases
The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on April 30 that it will hold a roundtable to promote book purchases from local bookstores by public institutions.
This roundtable has been organized not only to hear the perspectives of local bookstores, but also those of public and school libraries. The purpose is to discuss institutional improvement measures to expand the participation of local bookstores in the book purchasing process within the public sector.
Participants from the local bookstore sector include Myungyoung Oh, President of the Korea Federation of Bookstore Associations; Daegun Lee, President of the National Neighborhood Bookstore Network; Yeonho Lee, President of the Korea Booksellers Association; and Sunmi Moon, CEO of Kokkiri Bookstore and Chairperson of the Seongnam Bookstore Cooperative. From the public and school library sector, Kiyeong Lee, Director of Hanbat Library in Daejeon, and Deokjoo Lee, President of the Korea School Library Association, will also attend.
Attendees will share the difficulties faced by local bookstores during the book delivery process, as well as the burdens experienced by public and school libraries during the book purchasing contract process. Based on this discussion, the Ministry plans to explore ways to improve regulations so that local bookstores can participate more actively in book purchases by public institutions.
Choi Hwiyeong, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, stated, “Improving relevant regulations to encourage the public sector to actively use local bookstores when purchasing books is an important policy task for preserving the local reading culture ecosystem. We will establish a regulatory foundation that can be felt in the field, and continuously monitor and supplement these improvement measures to ensure they work effectively at the local level.”
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