The Characteristic and the Role of the Community Library as a Community Center

Abstract

Urban planning in Korea has been carried out based on the Neighborhood Unit Plan Theory established by Perry in the 1920s’. However, it is obvious that even though this theory positions the elementary school as the local community center, this role has been lost due to the absolute shortage of that age population, a short residence period, and problems with opening the schools to the public. Therefore, new attempts at an alternative local community center are crucial, and I will examine the community library as one of the possible alternatives among many other facilities. Through this study I’ve surveyed the users of eight community libraries located in the city of Goyang. As a result, I’ve found that: 1) the community library can accommodate various age groups, 2) the community library is a facility used by local residents within walking distance, and 3) the higher the using and participation rate of the facility, the bigger the opportunity for someone to start and engage local community activity. In conclusion, it has been verified that the community library can be a base vitalizing local community activities and activists as a local community facility. However, their current limitation is that they are still too short in numbers to replace the role of the elementary school as a community center. If there is an increase in the quantity and an improvement in the quality of community libraries, we can expect the community library to successfully carry out its role as a new base of the local community instead of elementary schools.