Training 'Book Specialist Docents' Through Songpa Book Museum

Training Book Museum Docents with Exhibition Interpretation Skills for Residents... Songpa Book Museum Builds Optimal Viewing Service, Expected to Grow as 'Education City Songpa'

[Asia Economy Reporter Jong-il Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Seong-su Park) is actively promoting the training of book-specialized docents for the general residents through the ‘Songpa Book Museum,’ Korea’s first public museum themed around books.

Accordingly, the district is recruiting about 30 adult participants residing in Songpa-gu who wish to engage in docent activities at the Songpa Book Museum, and will conduct the ‘Songpa Book Museum Exhibition Expert Docent Training Program,’ focusing on enhancing practical docent skills.

The training consists of a first phase ▲intensive theory sessions by internal and external museum experts ▲a ‘basic course’ providing opportunities for exhibition, education, preservation, participation, and communication within the museum environment, and a second phase ▲genre-specific advanced training to improve the quality of docent duties ▲cultural exploration to cultivate cultural literacy ▲museum tours, forming an ‘advanced course.’

The first phase training will be held over two weeks from the 10th to the 18th (Fridays and Saturdays from 10 AM to 12 PM, totaling 4 sessions and 8 hours), and the second advanced training course will be conducted in 2022 for those who complete the basic course.

Only those who complete both phases (basic and advanced) will be able to work as docents at the Songpa Book Museum twice daily starting from the second half of next year.

Meanwhile, since its opening in April 2019, the ‘Songpa Book Museum’ has presented new exhibitions every year, gaining empathy and positive responses from many visitors. Notable exhibitions include ▲‘Songbook, Singing the Era Exhibition,’ which covers 100 years of Korean popular music history ▲‘Independent Publishing, New Tastes of Books Exhibition’ ▲‘Textbooks, Our Stories Exhibition,’ showcasing a century of Korean education from the Joseon era to modern times, attracting over 300,000 visitors.

Seong-su Park, Mayor of Songpa-gu, stated, “We will nurture docents specialized for the Songpa Book Museum who can serve as a bridge connecting museum exhibitions and visitors through their own storytelling,” and added, “Through book-specialized docents, we will actively support the museum to become a place where exhibitions are understood more deeply and visitors receive diverse and high-quality viewing services.”