Providing Books and Reading Spaces for Children in Rural and Mountainous Areas
Kyobo Bookstore has donated books worth 60 million won to 25 community child centers nationwide, taking the initiative to create customized reading environments for children.
This book donation is part of the "Happiness Dream Library" project, which Kyobo Bookstore is carrying out in collaboration with the international children's rights NGO Save the Children and SK Innovation. The three organizations have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and are jointly promoting a social contribution project to provide books and reading spaces to children in rural, fishing, island, and mountainous regions with limited access to books.
The "Happiness Dream Library" aims to create an environment where children can naturally encounter books in their daily lives. To achieve this, basic book spaces have been established within community child centers, and the environment has been improved so that children can stay comfortably. The newly established libraries have been stocked with a total of 3,902 books, including approximately 3,053 books donated by Kyobo Bookstore and about 849 books collected through the citizen-participation campaign "Children's Book Dream Project." The total value of the donated books is about 60 million won.
The "Children's Book Dream Project" is a participatory campaign in which citizens select and donate books directly through a donation page, allowing them to choose the books they wish to give to children. In particular, SK Innovation created reading spaces in rural community child centers using funds raised by collecting 1% of the base salary from its group members.
A representative from Kyobo Bookstore stated, "Books are the starting point for children to understand the world and nurture their dreams," adding, "We will continue to support children's reading by working with various partners so that children can get closer to books."
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