2018 has been declared a year of books here in Korea.
However fewer and fewer people are sitting down with a good paperback in this age of smartphones and abundant online contents.
The government has been trying to reverse this trend with numerous initiatives... with little success.
Our Won Jung-hwan examines the changes in reading habits.
The season of reading has arrived, but according to statistics,... the number of people cozying up with a book in their hands is falling every year.
According to the Ministry of Culture's study on the nation's reading habits,… almost 4 out of 10 South Korean adults did not read a single book last year.
Compared to the results of the same study conducted in 2015, reading declined by 5-point-4 percentage points,… reaching the lowest mark since data started being collected in 1994.
Also, people read fewer books than in previous year,… with the average number of books read dropping from 9-point-1 to 8-point-3 for adults over a two year period.
And here are some of the reasons why people think the rate is gradually dropping.
"Recently, I think reading books has taken a back seat due to various leisure activities and smartphones that are available for us."
"Students are busy finding jobs and employees often have no room to read books for pleasure."
The Ministry has been pushing to increase the rate by expanding public libraries throughout the nation,… fostering an environment that allows people to easily access books.
In fact, the number of public libraries has been gradually increasing in the country, posting a rise of nearly 6.5 percent, from 2015 to 2017.
But ironically, the average number of adults who use public libraries per year is constantly decreasing,... hinting that more public libraries is not the solution to encourage further reading.
"The gap in terms of knowledge is growing wider in the country, so the government should first focus on the concept of 'knowledge welfare'. Also, if public libraries expand their role to serve as multi-cultural complex, it will increase the chances of more people visiting and reading more books."
The government last year declared 2018 to be a "year of books" and set a goal of raising the percentage of the population that has read at least one book a year, to 70 percent.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
However fewer and fewer people are sitting down with a good paperback in this age of smartphones and abundant online contents.
The government has been trying to reverse this trend with numerous initiatives... with little success.
Our Won Jung-hwan examines the changes in reading habits.
The season of reading has arrived, but according to statistics,... the number of people cozying up with a book in their hands is falling every year.
According to the Ministry of Culture's study on the nation's reading habits,… almost 4 out of 10 South Korean adults did not read a single book last year.
Compared to the results of the same study conducted in 2015, reading declined by 5-point-4 percentage points,… reaching the lowest mark since data started being collected in 1994.
Also, people read fewer books than in previous year,… with the average number of books read dropping from 9-point-1 to 8-point-3 for adults over a two year period.
And here are some of the reasons why people think the rate is gradually dropping.
"Recently, I think reading books has taken a back seat due to various leisure activities and smartphones that are available for us."
"Students are busy finding jobs and employees often have no room to read books for pleasure."
The Ministry has been pushing to increase the rate by expanding public libraries throughout the nation,… fostering an environment that allows people to easily access books.
In fact, the number of public libraries has been gradually increasing in the country, posting a rise of nearly 6.5 percent, from 2015 to 2017.
But ironically, the average number of adults who use public libraries per year is constantly decreasing,... hinting that more public libraries is not the solution to encourage further reading.
"The gap in terms of knowledge is growing wider in the country, so the government should first focus on the concept of 'knowledge welfare'. Also, if public libraries expand their role to serve as multi-cultural complex, it will increase the chances of more people visiting and reading more books."
The government last year declared 2018 to be a "year of books" and set a goal of raising the percentage of the population that has read at least one book a year, to 70 percent.
Won Jung-hwan, Arirang News.
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