Guryongpo Library, Travel and Sea-Themed Book Exhibitions and Programs
Donghae Seokgok Library, Philosophy Library by the Sea Healing Citizens' Minds
Libraries located in a quiet seaside village in Pohang are gaining popularity for their beautiful ocean views, attracting a steady stream of visitors every day.
At Guryongpo Library, visitors can enjoy views of the Guryongpo sea from anywhere in the library while reading books, allowing citizens to recover their tired bodies and minds from daily life and find peace and relaxation.
In addition, the library specializes in the themes of "travel and sea" with a curated collection and various programs, and it also provides large-print materials to accommodate the aging local population.
In the library lobby, original book illustrations are exhibited, and in a separate exhibition room, themed book displays and coloring postcard experiences are regularly held.
Despite opening during the height of social distancing measures due to COVID-19, the library has welcomed approximately 56,000 visitors to date, with the number of users steadily increasing.
Starting this year, to allow more citizens to use the facilities, group tour programs are being operated for early childhood education institutions within Pohang, and the library is promoting facility openings to support small group activities for clubs and organizations.
Donghae Seokgok Library, located in Donghae-myeon, Nam-gu, opened in 2009 to carry on the thoughts and scholarship of Seokgok Lee Gyu-jun. Seokgok Lee Gyu-jun was a late Joseon-era practical scholar and Korean medicine doctor born in Imgok-ri, Donghae-myeon.
With the saying, "If there was Lee Je-ma in the north, there was Lee Gyu-jun in the south," the library exhibits Seokgok’s life and his ideas on Korean medicine and philosophy, allowing visitors to follow his life journey.
As a philosophy-specialized library, Donghae Seokgok Library aims to popularize philosophy, helping citizens to newly recognize the value of life in their daily lives and to heal wounded hearts.
Song Young-hee, director of the municipal library, said, “I hope that by traveling through the Pohang Municipal Libraries embracing the sea, people can bring a fresh breeze into their daily lives and build special experiences with the books they read and the people they meet at the library.”
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