[Report] Tearing, Tasting, Soaking... Literature Wins the Nobel Prize, Reading Culture Gets the 'Ig Nobel Prize'

Exhibition of Damaged Books Displayed in a Corner of the Library
Revealing Various and Bizarre Book Damage Cases
Establishing Basic Civic Awareness is Essential for the Development of Reading Culture

On the afternoon of the 25th, at the tail end of autumn, I visited the Chaeknuri Room on the second floor of Yangcheon Library in Mokdong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. The reading room inside, past the information desk, was quite crowded. When asked if the number of visitors had increased since author Han Kang won the Nobel Prize in Literature, a Yangcheon Library official said that many people had started looking for Han Kang’s works or books he recommended.

About 40 citizens were gathered in the reading room, deeply engrossed in reading. Just as varied as the types of books were the postures of the readers. A man sitting perched on the edge of his chair, a female student with earphones on and her face deeply bowed, an elderly person writing while lightly pressing the book’s spine fold?each was in a comfortable position. Perhaps due to the COVID-19 resurgence notice posted at the information desk, some people wearing masks were seen here and there among the bookshelves.

An exhibition of damaged books held near the entrance of the Chaeknuri Room on the 2nd floor of Yangcheon Library, Mokdong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Books with their own stories are displayed on the tables. Photo by Ho-kyung Choi hocance@

On one side of the library, a small “Damaged Books Exhibition” was being held. Passersby glanced at the damaged books displayed on the table. Some took a quick look and moved on, while others stopped to examine them more closely. A Yangcheon Library official explained, “We usually hold this event once a year on Reading Day. This year, due to numerous complaints about damaged books and despite our efforts to raise awareness, citizens have not become more conscious, so we decided to extend the exhibition.”

Used as personal study sheets or pot trivets... cut out with knives or chewed by dogs

Traces of various writing instruments, marks from a dog chewing, and dark coffee stains spilled on the book remain. The book positioned in the center has some pages, presumed to contain text and illustrations, neatly torn out. Photo by Ho Kyung Choi hocance@

I initially thought the damage would be limited to scribbles, underlines, or torn pages, but the actual condition and types of damage I saw up close exceeded my expectations.

There were 12 types of damage displayed. Among them, I was most shocked by the “cut-out” type. It wasn’t just torn pages. Some pages, presumed to be printed with the book’s content and famous paintings, were sharply cut out deep along the book’s spine fold with a cutter knife or similar tool. The cuts were so clean that it was easy to mistake the pages as never having existed.

Other types included diary entries listing personal goals, damage caused by dogs chewing the books, covers burnt round from being used as pot trivets, personal study sheets with answers and explanations written on them, coffee spills, books soaked entirely in water, and books split in half. The sign on the table saying “Please look only with your eyes” seemed meaningless. The damage was so severe that no one dared to touch the books.

There are cases where borrowers have arbitrarily repaired books or used them as pot holders, resulting in damage. There are also exhibits of books that have been completely soaked in water and damaged. Photo by Ho-kyung Choi hocance@

Ban Mo (49), who visited the library on this weekday while on parental leave, said the “wet book” type of damage left the strongest impression on him. Ban expressed concern, saying, “Books soaked entirely in water are difficult to restore.” He added, “Since out-of-print books cannot be replaced, there should be fines imposed at about 5 to 10 times the book’s price,” emphasizing the need for penalties according to the level of damage.

Randomly picking a few books from the literature shelves, I found books that caused discomfort due to scribbles, underlines, creases, and stickiness. The librarian’s comment that underlining is a basic occurrence in shelf books felt very real. Once someone leaves pencil marks in a book, the next person uses a pen, and the following person highlights with a marker, causing cumulative damage to the book.

A randomly picked book from the literature bookshelf. Underlines drawn with pencil and highlighter cause discomfort. Photo by Ho Kyung Choi hocance@

Customers who borrow books must compensate with the same book or an equivalent amount if they lose or damage the book. However, this rarely happens in practice because it is difficult to secure evidence. If a customer claims the book was already damaged when borrowed, librarians have no choice but to repair the damaged book and put it back on the shelf.

Gu Mo (12), a sixth grader at Gyeongin Elementary School in Seoul who borrows books about four times a week, and his friend Kim Songju (12) both agreed, saying, “People don’t seem to take good care of books.” Kim said, “People should appreciate books and treat them well,” delivering a sharp rebuke to adults who handle books carelessly.

Average annual increase rate of discarded and removed books in public libraries over the past five years is 15.3%

At Yangcheon Library, about 2,100 books are returned daily. The library estimates that at least 5%, or between 100 and 200 of these, are damaged books. However, it is difficult to determine exactly how many books are newly damaged each day. Returned books include not only newly damaged ones but also those that were previously damaged and have deteriorated or have undergone repeated damage and repair.

The number of books discarded or removed from public libraries is increasing every year. According to the “2023 Public Library Statistical Survey Report” released by the Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism last year, the annual number of discarded or removed books per public library increased from 2,526 in 2018 to 3,050 in 2019, 3,672 in 2020, 4,085 in 2021, and 4,441 in 2022, with an average annual growth rate of 15.3% over the past five years (2018?2022).

On the afternoon of the 25th, citizens are deeply engrossed in reading in the Chaeknuri Room on the 2nd floor of Yangcheon Library in Mokdong, Yangcheon-gu, Seoul. Photo by Ho-kyung Choi hocance@

“Removal” refers to deleting books from the registration ledger due to loss of use value, irretrievability, damage, or unknown location. “Discarding” means physically getting rid of the books. Discarded books are sold, incinerated, or donated to other institutions. According to Yangcheon Library, unlike books with low usage value, severely damaged books are generally not donated.

A Yangcheon Library official A, who has worked as a librarian for 21 years, pointed out irresponsible behaviors such as scribbling or underlining, saying, “Even if someone thinks a certain passage is important, others may not find it important or like it.” He also warned against actions like dropping books in water or leaving them for dogs to chew.

Cultural critic Ha Jae-geun said, “Damaging shared property carelessly reflects not only a lack of reading culture but also the disappearance of the most basic civic consciousness.” He criticized, “What kind of culture or societal development can come from reading under such circumstances?” He added, “People must understand the principle of not causing inconvenience to others when using shared items or spaces, and reading culture should be developed based on this civic consciousness.”