'Yongin Book Festival' Successfully Concludes with Over 14,000 Participants

Mayor Sang-il Lee "Will Support and Encourage Citizens' Passion for Books"

Yongin City in Gyeonggi Province announced on the 7th that the '6th Yongin Book Festival,' held on the 5th at the city hall plaza, was successfully hosted with over 14,000 citizens in attendance.

On the 5th, citizens are leisurely enjoying reading and relaxation at the 'Book Tent' set up at the 'Yongin Book Festival' held in Yongin City Hall Plaza.
[Photo by Yongin City]

Under the theme "A Special Day with Books!", the city set up a 'Book Tent' and 'Parasol Zone' on the central green lawn, offering 'Booknic Kits' composed of books, mats, and accessories for rent, allowing citizens to enjoy snacks and coffee while reading.

Especially popular was the 'Book Sale Booth,' where withdrawn books were sold for 1,000 won each. The booth was initiated last year based on an idea from Yongin Mayor Lee Sang-il, and this year the city provided over 5,000 books.

A relay author lecture series was also held. The sessions included So-young Lee's "Misconceptions about Plants," Kyubeom Kim's "Text Hip? Shall We Really Read It?", and Youngmi Kwak's "Stories of Singing Picture Books." Alongside the lectures, experiential activities matching the themes were organized, encouraging citizen participation.

At the public library service experience booths, visitors could engage with programs such as the Book of the Year, Reading Marathon, specialized projects by each library, Bookstart, Family Picture Book Booknic, Digital Creation Studio, and electronic resource experiences. Events offering prizes featuring the city character 'Joayang' were also held.

Additionally, various programs were added, including small library experience programs, independent author autograph sessions, stamp tours, social networking service (SNS) events, themed photo zones, Dreaming Magic's 'Reading Promotion Magic & Bubble Show,' Arke Culture's 'Poet and Music' book concert, and performances by Recipe Note and Clown Jin as part of the Yongin Cultural Foundation's 'I'm Busker' series.

Sang-il Lee (left), Mayor of Yongin, is attending the 'Yongin Book Festival' and touring the event venue. [Photo by Yongin City]

Mayor Lee stated, "The adult reading rate in Yongin City reaches 54%, far exceeding the national average of 43%, and Suji Library ranks first nationwide in public library loans, demonstrating the citizens' exceptional love for books." He added, "We will continue our efforts to make Yongin a city of readers by increasing the number of public libraries from 20 to 24, remodeling old libraries, and expanding smart libraries in areas where building new libraries is difficult."