• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.44 no.2
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• pp.377-398
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• 2013

In terms of expanding the infrastructure of public libraries, building many small-size libraries is more efficiency than building a small number of big size libraries. Korean public libraries have been built in big-size in compare to the public libraries in the developed countries. This study aims to analyse why the majority of the Korean public libraries have been built in middle and large size and the floor space of 791 public libraries were examined. It was revealed that the average floor space of 791 public libraries is $2,495m^2$. The study aims to find what policy on library building should be considered to expand effectively the infrastructure of public libraries.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.44 no.4
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• pp.399-419
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• 2013

This paper conducted the empirical analysis of the behaviors revealed in the eight size distributions of the public libraries in Korea. As a result, the behaviors of complex system appeared in all eight size factors. This means that the sizes of public libraries in Korea were highly polarized. Especially, the zipf's law were found in the size factors such as gross area, number of staffs, volume of books, total budget. And the highly uneven distributions were occurred in the size factors such as membership, number of users, number of borrowers, number of borrowed books. This research outcomes show that a new policy of public libraries is needed to resolve the polarization revealed in the sizes of public libraries in Korea.

• Journal of the Korean BIBLIA Society for library and Information Science
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.149-160
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• 2010

In order to assure universal information access right, the present regional gap of public library infrastructure needs to be examined in Korea. The purpose of this study is to propose an effective government financial support policy to local government to bridge the regional gaps among 16 Korean wide autonomous communities. For that purpose, this study analyzed some of the per library and per capita measures, surface areas, number of librarians, number of books, total budgets and budgets for materials, etc, available in the National Library Statistics System. Then, this study reviewed changes and problems in new government financial support systems which started from 2010. Based on the results, a reformation plan of the current government financial system to national subsidy program was proposed.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.51 no.4
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• pp.183-201
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to examine the current staffing practices in public libraries and to analyze the relevance of legal standards of public library staffing. It analyzed the national library statistical data to obtain the national average staffing rate, reviewed related literature to understand the rationales that established the key attributes that construct the current legal standards, and compared the placement rates of the three standards, namely the current legal standards, Korean Library Association's standards, and IFLA staffing standards, to determine the optimacy of the legal standards. It found the current placement rate in the legal standard was only 18.2%, marking the lowest rates among the three compared standards, indicating the current legal standards being unnecessarily high. The study attributes the problem to the structure of the current legal standards that calculate the staffing size based on the building and collection size rather than service populations. The findings of this study suggest a revision of the current standard based on service population while retaining the minimum staffing of three librarians even the smallest public library unit.

• Journal of Korean Library and Information Science Society
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• v.52 no.4
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• pp.79-102
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• 2021

This research is based on open data from the National Library Statistics System and Seoul Survey 2020 from Seoul to analyze the Seoul citizens' usage of public libraries. For such purposes, this research compared and diagnosed the condition of public libraries services at 25 districts of Seoul, focusing on objective indicators of library management and general usage records to understand the correlations between the two. Objective indicators such as budgets, human labor, the number of books, and total ground area were compared with usage records of different classes of Seoul citizens, organized by the citizens' place of living, educational background, and monthly household income. As a result of the research, the correlation between the objective indicators and public usage records of different classes was confirmed. Seoul citizens' usage of public libraries and reading tendency were identified. In addition to, a balanced development of the public libraries in Seoul was proposed to overcome regional disparities and leveling the service level by investigating usage behavior and reading tendency of the public libraries in Seoul.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.38 no.3
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• pp.335-356
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• 2021

This study analyzed the trends and current status in public libraries in Korea for 14 years, focusing on the overview and facilities of public libraries using public library statistics from 2007 to 2020. The research data were collected from the National Library Statistics System and compared with the population and GDP per capita of Korea. As a result, the number of public libraries in Korea is 1,172 as of 2020, which has nearly doubled compared to 2007, and it was found that this increase has a very strong correlation with GDP per capita and population. There were 229 contracting out public libraries operating by the local government in 2020, and the contracting out rate increased from 18.8% in 2007 to 25.1%. Although the site area of public libraries varies greatly from library to library, it tends to get larger over time. The total floor area of public libraries operating by the Office of Education is larger than that of public libraries operating by the local government, and it gradually increases over time, but the total floor area of public libraries operating by the local government have decreased slightly. The total number of seats in the library is decreasing in all libraries, and the reading seats for children and the reading seats for the elderly and the disabled tend to slightly increase.

• Journal of the Korean Society for information Management
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• v.26 no.4
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• pp.129-146
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• 2009

The purpose of this study is to comprehensively analyze which kind of factors have an effect on the number of users in the public libraries. For this, this study analyzed various factors, such as personnel, collection, budget, event, influenced on the number of their users of 55 public libraries in Seoul. The results of this study indicated that the number of users in the public libraries is influenced by the number of their seat, librarian, the building size and the number of librarian. Besides, the result of multiple regression analysis to verify these regression models was revealed that the factor influenced on the number of users of public libraries is only the number of seat. The result of this study is expected to practically use in establishing the plan to increase the number of their users in public libraries.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.57 no.3
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• pp.97-117
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• 2023

The purpose of this study is to suggest a mid- to long-term expansion plan to resolve the blind spot and alleviate the imbalance of public library services in Daegu City. The research methods for this purpose included literature review, related laws and statistical data analysis, case study, and opinion survey. As a result, the first service area was set as a total of 14 areas based on administrative districts(Jung-gu, Seo-gu, Nam-gu, and Dalseong-gun each have one, Dong-gu and Buk-gu each have two, and Suseong-gu and Dalseo-gu have three each). Second, the expansion scenario for public libraries in Daegu City was proposed to add 26 libraries by the final target year (2032) based on the trend of national library growth over the past 13 years (2008-2020) and the forecast for the next 10 years (2023-2032). Third, the construction scenarios for each basic local government, excluding the Daegu representative library, are as follows: One library each in Jung-gu, Seo-gu, and Nam-gu; two libraries in Suseong-gu; three libraries in Dalseong-gun; four libraries in Dong-gu; and seven libraries each in Buk-gu and Dalseo-gu. In terms of floor area, it is proposed to add a total of 17 branch libraries with a minimum legal standard of 330-2,499㎡, four central libraries with 2,500-4,999㎡ each, and four central libraries with 5,000-9,999㎡ each. On the premise of these conditions, Daegu City and public libraries should focus on creating an inclusive and open community space, creating a digital platform, strengthening the library operation and cooperation system centered on Daegu representative library, developing collections and specializing services for local hub libraries, enhancing various knowledge information and program services, managing key library indicators and improving social contribution.

• Journal of the Korean Society for Library and Information Science
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• v.56 no.1
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• pp.5-25
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• 2022

In most countries, public libraries are knowledge information centers, complex cultural spaces, lifelong learning facilities, and third places for local residents. The social homage spoken on the premise of this identity and socio-cultural role is the knowledge and information agora, cultural infrastructure, living room in the city, and the university of the people. However, if there is a significant gap between public libraries regardless of country or region, it will inevitably lead to information gaps, regional gaps, and cultural inequality and cultural welfare gaps among local residents. This study is regarded as the essence of regional cultural facilities and premised that the regional gap in public libraries is a factor of regional cultural gaps. Based on this premise, the gap between the location quotient, input indicators, and output indicators of public libraries of regional governments in Korea and basic local governments in the Gyeongbuk region was analyzed. And this study derived core elements through correlation and regression analysis of input and output indicators of all public libraries nationwide, developed a management model for each indicator, and suggested a plan to resolve the relative gap for public libraries by city and county in Gyeongbuk.