South Korea's library events

South Korea is turning April 12 into a weeklong push to get people back into libraries, with author talks, outdoor programs, and local reading events running through April 18 across the country. The official kickoff was held on April 10 at Seonyudo Library in Seoul’s Yeongdeungpo district under the slogan “Small Openings in Libraries, Big Doors to the World.” (en.sedaily.com, english.visitkorea.or.kr) One of the headline events is a book talk on April 12 with novelist Seul-a Lee, winner of the 2022 Young Writer’s Award, at the National Library of Korea in Seoul. The same national program also includes an international conference and a future-library policy hackathon tied to the National Library Day schedule. (en.sedaily.com, libraryday.kr) This is not just a festival calendar fill-in. The Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism is using the week to push a bigger idea: libraries should work less like silent storage rooms and more like neighborhood cultural centers with lectures, exhibitions, and live gatherings. (en.sedaily.com, ajupress.com) The urgency is easy to see in one number. South Korea’s adult reading rate fell to 38.5 percent, a record low cited in the April 10 coverage of this year’s campaign. (en.sedaily.com) The April 12 date is relatively new in law even though the reading campaign behind it is much older. South Korea revised its Library Act in 2021 to designate April 12 as National Library Day, while Library Week traces back to a Korean Library Association campaign that began in 1964. (english.visitkorea.or.kr, kla.kr) That legal change gave the government a fixed annual moment to tie reading policy to public events. The national website for this year’s program says the goal is to raise public interest in libraries and encourage use through ceremonies, lectures, hands-on events, and conferences. (libraryday.kr, libraryday.kr) The local versions show what that looks like on the ground. Busan’s public libraries scheduled a full week of events from April 12 to 18, and Gwangyang’s Lifelong Education Center announced family programs with performances, exhibitions, and participatory activities for children and residents. (hapskorea.com, asiae.co.kr) Seoul has already been testing the same idea in public space, not just inside library buildings. The World Cities Culture Forum says Seoul’s Outdoor Library project, launched in 2022, has drawn more than 5 million visitors by turning plazas and streamside areas into open-air reading rooms. (worldcitiescultureforum.com, english.seoul.go.kr) The government is also measuring libraries as part of a broader national plan, not as one-off events. A review of the Fourth Comprehensive Library Development Plan for 2024 to 2028 found 31 items rated “excellent” in its 2025 implementation check, with no items marked insufficient or needing improvement. (ajupress.com) So the story here is not simply that South Korea has a library holiday on April 12. It is that the country is using a legally designated reading week, national programming, and city-level events to make libraries compete for attention the way museums, festivals, and concert venues already do. (english.visitkorea.or.kr, en.sedaily.com, ajupress.com)