Opening of Guro-gu Guil Station Smart Library

[Seoul District News] Guro-gu Enables Adjustable Book Search Bar Position, Supports 6 Languages, Book Basket, Popular and New Books Features... Songpa-gu Recruits Mentees for Youth Employment and Startup Mentoring ‘Songpul’... Yongsan-gu Promotes Youth Vitality Support through Cheongnyeon Jium... Gwanak-gu Uses High-Intensity Lighting to Prevent Crime on Women’s Safe Return Paths... Dobong-gu Issues 300 Million Won ‘Dobong Wemakeprice Gift Certificates’ with 15% Discount

[Asia Economy Reporter Park Jong-il] “On your way home, how about a book?”

Guro-gu (Mayor Lee Sung) opened the Guil Station Smart Library on the 20th.

Guro-gu announced on the 25th, “We are carrying out a project to create smart libraries in subway stations so that residents can borrow books without visiting the library,” adding, “Considering population density and floating population, we established a smart library inside Guil Station on Line 1.”

The ‘Smart Library’ is an unmanned automated machine in the form of a vending machine where you can borrow and return books.

The smart library, located inside Exit 1 of Guil Station, is open during the station’s operating hours.

In particular, through the ‘For Disabled/Children’ and ‘General’ buttons at the bottom of the touch screen, the position of the book search window can be adjusted. It supports six languages including Korean, English, Chinese, Japanese, Thai, and Vietnamese, as well as functions such as adding books to the basket, checking popular and new books. After collecting residents’ opinions in June, about 600 books will be added in total.

Any resident holding a membership card of the Guro Integrated Library ‘Lighthouse of Wisdom’ can use it. If you register your membership card through the ‘Seoul Citizen Card App,’ you can borrow books with just your phone without a physical membership card.

You can borrow books by pressing the borrow button and going through procedures such as book search and member authentication. To return, press the return button, scan the book barcode, and insert it into the slot.

Immediate borrowing and returning are possible at the smart library, and if the desired book is not available, you can reserve books at the district library through the Guro Integrated Library ‘Lighthouse of Wisdom’ website (lib.guro.go.kr).

Up to five books can be borrowed per person, and the loan period is 14 days. It can be extended once for 7 days. Books borrowed from the smart library must be returned to the same device.

Meanwhile, Guro-gu has installed and operated smart libraries at Cheonwang Station, Sindorim Station, Gaebong Station in 2019, and Oryu-dong Station in 2021. In June, a smart library will be established at Exit 5 of Onsu Station on Line 7, and in the second half of the year, at Namguro Station.

A Guro-gu official said, “Using the smart library allows you to conveniently borrow books without taking time to visit the library,” and added, “We will continue to do our best to create an environment where residents can access books anytime and anywhere.”

Songpa-gu is recruiting mentees to participate in ‘Songpa Employment and Entrepreneurship Mentoring Songpul (hereafter ‘Songpul’),’ which provides practical help related to employment and entrepreneurship for young people.

‘Songpul,’ a combination of ‘Songpa’ and ‘Platform/Pull,’ is an online platform for employment and entrepreneurship support planned proactively by young people active in the Songpa Youth Network’s employment and entrepreneurship division. It provides mentoring specialized in young people’s needs and strengthens their capabilities.

Through ‘Songpul,’ which debuted last October, the district conducted interview mentoring for about 50 young people and received positive responses. This year, mentoring is planned where job seekers can meet professionals from various fields of high interest and hear stories necessary for employment and entrepreneurship.

Any young person aged 19 to 39 residing in Songpa-gu can become a mentee and meet professional mentors. By signing up on the Songpul website and using points provided upon registration to take courses, mentees can participate in mentoring. The program is conducted face-to-face at the Munjeong Biz Valley Job Hub Center, primarily as 1:4 group mentoring.

You can choose various mentoring such as writing self-introductions necessary for employment and interview coaching. Also, personal color diagnosis and voice consulting are available free of charge, allowing young people to experience various programs without financial burden.

Youth wishing to participate as mentees can visit the Songpul website and select the mentoring they want. Applications are accepted anytime until November. For more details, refer to the Songpul website or contact the Songpa-gu Office Job Policy Division.

The district plans to provide 1:1 mentoring benefits to outstanding mentees who attend mentoring sessions and write reviews.

One in five young people in their 20s is in a NEET (Not in Employment, Education or Training) state, neither working nor receiving education or training, requiring various support measures.

Yongsan-gu (Mayor Seong Jang-hyun) is drawing attention with its ‘Youth Vitality Support Project’ that cares for the body and mind of young people.

The ‘Youth Vitality Support Project’ is conducted at Yongsan Youth Jium (17 Seobinggo-ro), the largest youth space in Seoul.

Main projects include ▲Jium Gap Months (Pro Career Worry Workshop, Group Psychological Counseling, Portfolio Creation) ▲Jium Forest (Healthy Habits, Healing Trips) ▲Jium Supporters, etc.

The Jium Gap Months Pro Career Worry Workshop is held every Tuesday from 2 PM to 5 PM from May 10 to June 7 for 20 NEET youth who are inactive and unaffiliated. Participants can set their career paths based on their strengths.

The group psychological counseling workshop starts on June 15 for 8 NEET youth who have difficulty communicating. In a safe environment, they can practice forming human relationships through group psychological counseling. Recruitment is open until June 6.

The Notion portfolio creation ‘Portfolio Escape’ runs from July 5 for 6 participants from the Pro Career Worry Workshop. Portfolio Escape uses Notion, an integrated memo service combining notes, documents, projects, and databases, offering an opportunity to understand the ‘working me’ rather than just listing resumes.

The Jium Forest healthy habit formation workshop ‘8 AM, 11 PM’ starts on June 9 for young people who want to create a regular daily pattern. Participants will form regular and healthy habits in exercise, meals, sleep, and relationships. Recruitment is for 15 people until June 29.

The urban healing trip ‘Walking Life Share’ will be held at Yongsan Family Park from 10 AM to 12 PM on June 25. It aims to take a break together through inner dialogue with strangers while feeling nature away from daily life. Recruitment is from June 3 to 15.

Additionally, the district will recruit 6 Jium Supporters from June 7 to 21. The ‘Jium Supporters,’ planned to revitalize the Youth Jium space, give young people the opportunity to design the space and plan and operate Youth Day programs.

Mayor Seong Jang-hyun said, “Youth issues have been limited to individual employment problems,” adding, “Through various youth vitality support programs, we will strive to give strength to young people instead of just saying ‘cheer up!’”

Yongsan Youth Jium near Yongsan Station is equipped with a mini cinema, exhibition hall, book lounge, healing room, and shared kitchen. It operates from 10 AM to 10 PM on weekdays (until 5 PM on Saturdays).

Any youth can use the facilities. All programs are free. For details, check Youth Jium’s Instagram, blog, or KakaoTalk channel. Joining the Youth Jium membership offers various benefits.

Gwanak-gu is strengthening efforts to create safe streets and urban environments where women can live with peace of mind at night by using gobo lighting.

Gobo lighting is an LED landscape lighting fixture that projects images and text onto nighttime streets to maximize visibility, provide psychological stability to pedestrians, and help prevent crime by deterring criminal intent in advance.

This gobo lighting project, conducted as part of the 2022 Gwanak-gu resident participatory budget project and women-friendly city creation project, involved a total budget of 33 million KRW.

First, the district replaced 18 of the 22 gobo lights installed on women’s safe return paths through the 2016 Gwanak-gu resident participatory budget project, which had dimmed or malfunctioned due to aging.

Additionally, in a joint inspection with Gwanak Police Station conducted in February, areas judged to be relatively vulnerable to safety such as Beopwon Danji 10-gil and Nanhyang 7-gil were newly selected, and 4 gobo lights were newly installed and completed.

The district is carrying out various projects to create an urban environment where women can live safely, including ▲support for safe home sets for single women households ▲installation of emergency bells in single-woman stores ▲rental service for illegal filming camera inspection equipment.

A district official said, “We will continue to build safety infrastructure that can alleviate women’s anxiety and strive to prevent crime and create a safe residential environment in the region.”

Dobong-gu (Mayor Lee Dong-jin) issued the ‘Dobong Wemakeprice-O Gift Certificate,’ a dedicated gift certificate for the Dobong-type private-led delivery app ‘Wemakeprice-O,’ with a 15% discount on the 20th.

Issued with a scale of 300 million KRW, the ‘Dobong Wemakeprice-O Gift Certificate’ can be purchased up to 200,000 KRW per person per month through the Seoul Pay+ app, and the usage period is one year from the purchase date.

Dobong ‘Wemakeprice-O’ is a public-private cooperative delivery app service aimed at increasing sales for small business owners and revitalizing the local economy. To reduce delivery commission burdens on local small businesses, Dobong-gu, Wemakeprice-O, and the Korea Food Service Central Association Dobong Branch signed a business agreement on October 22 last year and implemented the service.

Along with the issuance of gift certificates, a mileage accumulation event for consumers is being held from May 20 to August 31. During the event, if you order ‘pickup (3,000 points accumulation)’ through ‘Wemakeprice-O’ or participate in ‘My Container Pickup (additional 2,000 points accumulation)’ by bringing your own container at pickup, you can accumulate up to 50,000 points. The accumulated mileage will be provided as ‘Dobong Love Gift Certificates’ in September. However, to participate in the event, you must apply for the mileage event in the Wemakeprice-O app and order from businesses located in Dobong-gu. Detailed participation methods can be found in the ‘Wemakeprice-O’ app.

Mayor Lee Dong-jin of Dobong-gu said, “Please use the kind delivery app Wemakeprice-O, which reduces delivery app commission burdens for small business owners, and participate in this mileage event to help increase small business sales and spread an eco-friendly delivery culture by reducing disposable products through ‘My Container Pickup.’”