Busan Office of Education Holds Opening Ceremony for 'Byeolbit Library'

Parents and Children Holding Hands for Family Reading Time in the Evening

The Busan Metropolitan Office of Education will hold an opening event for the ‘Starlight Library,’ a space where students and parents can read books together on weekday evenings and Saturdays, as part of the ‘Reading Change’ project.

The event will begin at 7 p.m. on the 9th at Bosu Elementary School, followed by Haegang Elementary School (January 15), Ilgwang Elementary School (February 4), and five more schools scheduled to open sequentially in March.

The opening celebration will feature a promotional video for the Starlight Library project, a sound-enhanced fairy tale performance, student and parent participation activities (reading aloud), and meetings with authors.

Until now, parents with young children have made great efforts to read to their children and help them develop proper reading habits, but there has been a practical difficulty due to the lack of libraries nearby that are easily accessible during evening hours and leisure time.

In response, the Busan Metropolitan Office of Education plans to provide a friendly reading space where parents and children can visit school libraries within a 15-minute walk after work on weekdays and on Saturdays to read books together and communicate with each other.

To minimize the burden on school principals for nighttime use, the Office supports school library operations by providing staff, lighting facilities, and comfortable reading spaces, while continuously strengthening safety facilities such as streetlights and CCTV.

Additionally, various programs such as ‘Night Good! Family Book Drive 100,’ which encourages consistent reading habits through reading passports and personal reading records, and ‘A Night Walk with Books and Movies,’ which combines films and reading, will be operated to establish a culture of family reading, not just for students but for families as well.

Choi Yunhong, Acting Superintendent of Education, said, “The Starlight Library project will create a reading environment where students and parents can comfortably read books anytime, providing an opportunity for character education and the growth of the educational community together,” and added, “We will spare no support to ensure that school libraries become friendly spaces for communication and empathy.”