Gwangju Nam-gu, Public Smart and Small Libraries 'Growing Rapidly' in the 7th Elected Term

[Asia Economy Honam Reporting Headquarters Reporter Park Jin-hyung] Kim Byeong-nae, Mayor of Nam-gu, Gwangju, is accelerating the establishment of lifestyle-oriented cultural infrastructure in every neighborhood to create a premium educational city, and the public smart library and small library construction projects within the district are actively progressing.

In addition, centered around three key public libraries, public libraries are being established and built at major neighborhood locations, further strengthening the library network to enhance public education.

According to Nam-gu on the 26th, there are currently three public smart libraries and fifteen public small libraries operating within the district.

Among these, the public smart libraries and public small libraries established during the 7th local government term number three and two respectively. Additionally, two more public smart libraries and four public small libraries are under construction.

In particular, the smart libraries incorporating IT technology are one of the outstanding achievements in the field of lifestyle-oriented cultural infrastructure established during the 7th local government term.

So far, Nam-gu has focused on building ubiquitous (U) libraries in line with electronic recognition tag technology, establishing three smart libraries behind the BigsPo in Pureungil Park, at Mudeung Market, and near the bus stop opposite Namgwangju Nonghyup in Juwol-dong, and is planning to open the 4th branch inside the multipurpose gymnasium in December.

Also, having been selected in the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism’s ‘2022 U-Library Support Project’ contest this year, there are plans to build additional smart libraries within the district in 2022.

With the active construction of smart libraries, residents in the district enjoy a rich cultural life by borrowing books 365 days a year without having to visit the library in person.

Public small libraries are also being established one after another in neighborhoods.

In 2018 and 2020, the Daechon-dong Ecological Small Library and Bangnim 1-dong Flower Village Small Library opened, and between January and March next year, three public small libraries are preparing to open consecutively in Wolsan 4-dong, Nam-gu Senior Welfare Center, and Bongseon 2-dong.

Furthermore, starting from the second half of 2022, one public small library will be constructed in Songam-dong.

A Nam-gu official stated, “We plan to continue establishing public smart libraries and public small libraries in every village. We will also connect public and private small libraries into a network web to provide the nation’s highest level of library services, allowing residents to borrow books within 10 minutes from their homes.”