4th Comprehensive Library Development Plan Progress "Smooth"... All 49 Plans Rated 'Excellent' 'Normal'

Stable Implementation of the 4th Comprehensive Library Development Plan
All Plans Rated as 'Excellent' or 'Normal Progress'

The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism announced on the 12th that the National Library Committee under the President has confirmed the stable progress of the '4th Comprehensive Library Development Plan (2024-2028)'.

Yoon In-chon, Minister of Culture, Sports and Tourism, is delivering a congratulatory speech at the Library Day ceremony held on the 12th at the National Library of Korea in Seocho-gu, Seoul, under the theme "Planting Seeds of Dreams in Libraries." Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism

This evaluation was conducted on a total of 48 institutions, including 31 central administrative agencies (93 projects) and 17 metropolitan local governments (402 projects).

The committee conducted a three-stage review based on the implementation performance and self-evaluation results submitted by each institution: written evaluation by a panel of 21 evaluators, review of objections, and a plenary meeting. Using 10 evaluation indicators across three categories?alignment with the comprehensive plan, fidelity to the implementation plan, and achievement of goals?each institution and its respective projects were assessed as 'Excellent', 'Normal Progress', or 'Insufficient/Needs Improvement'.

As a result of evaluating the 49 execution plans of the '4th Comprehensive Plan', in 2024, 20 were rated 'Excellent' and 28 as 'Normal Progress'. Except for one unexecuted plan, there were no projects rated as insufficient or needing improvement.

By institution, among the 31 central administrative agencies, 9 were rated 'Excellent' and 22 as 'Normal Progress'; among the 17 metropolitan local governments, 7 were rated 'Excellent' and 10 as 'Normal Progress'.

Regarding the evaluation of projects by institution, a total of 18 projects from 13 institutions?5 central ministries and 8 metropolitan local governments?were selected as 'Excellent'. Major excellent projects include: ▲Expansion of cultural and experiential programs centered on the 'Wisdom School of Humanities on the Road' (Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism) ▲Establishment and operation of the national knowledge information integrated platform 'Digital Jiphyeonjeon' (Ministry of Science and ICT and Korea Intelligent Information Society Agency) ▲Expansion of legal deposit and collection of unheld materials such as independent publications (National Library of Korea) ▲Expansion of sign language-based information services for persons with disabilities (National Library for the Disabled).

▲Seoul Metropolitan City stood out for establishing a cooperative foundation between local publishing and bookstores ▲Incheon Metropolitan City excelled in building a regional cooperation platform by establishing a local community archive system. ▲Immersive library services (Sejong Special Self-Governing City) and ▲Overseas installation of the Korean Materials Room and expansion of exchanges between international libraries (National Library of Korea) received high evaluations for policy scalability and sustainability.

At the 'Library Day' ceremony held on the morning of the 12th, awards were presented for the 18 projects from 13 institutions rated as 'Excellent'. Each institution received a prize of 2 million KRW per project. Based on this evaluation, the committee plans to further strengthen the implementation strategies of the '4th Comprehensive Plan' and reflect the results in the establishment and improvement of annual implementation plans.

Committee Chairperson Yoon Hee-yoon stated, "The year 2024 was a meaningful year as the starting point of the '4th Comprehensive Plan' and a year in which the transformation of library policy could be felt. Thanks to the sincere efforts of various institutions in the field, libraries are establishing themselves as platforms for social inclusion and regional solidarity." He added, "We will continue to provide feedback and support at the committee level to ensure performance-oriented evaluations and innovative practices continue."