South Korea to build 56 more public libraries

SEOUL, Feb. 13 (Yonhap) -- The South Korean government will support the
construction of 56 new public libraries across the country as part of its
longstanding effort to encourage people to read more books and lower the
country's illiteracy rate, the culture ministry said Friday.

South Korea will have a total of 698 public libraries after the new buildings are
constructed, which still falls short compared to the number of libraries in
Europe, the United States and neighboring Japan.
While South Korea has one library for every 99,000 people, Japan has one for
every 48,000, the U.S. one for every 30,000, Britain one for every 12,700 and
Germany one for every 9,000 people. South Korea has the least number of public
libraries among the 30 OECD nations.
The government will provide 30 percent of the construction costs for 39 new
libraries to be built in Seoul and metropolitan regions, and 80 percent of the
costs for 17 new libraries in farming and fishing villages, the ministry said.
South Korea plans to have up to 900 public libraries by the end of 2013.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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