Busan is good

Busan Metropolitan City Digital Library Use Up 12.3 Percent as Reading Habits Diversify Among Busan Citizens

내용

Busan Library announced that an analysis of usage statistics from Busan Metropolitan City public libraries (176 locations) shows that in 2025, a total of 2,786,794 people borrowed books, with 9,341,309 volumes checked out overall.

This represents an increase of 1.0 percent in the number of borrowers and 1.5 percent in the number of borrowed volumes compared to 2024, when 2,759,393 people borrowed 9,206,265 volumes. As a result, the average number of books borrowed per person per year in 2025 stood at approximately 3.4 volumes, a level similar to the previous year.

By age group, adult users accounted for the largest share of borrowers, while children and adolescents also continued to make steady use of library services. In 2025, the number of borrowers totaled 1,961,353 adults, 477,927 children, and 105,828 adolescents.

These figures confirm that while adults form the core user group, library use continues across a wide range of age groups, including children and adolescents.

The increase in use of the Busan Metropolitan City Digital Library operated by Busan Library emerged as a key trend reflecting changes in reading environments among Busan citizens in 2025. Total digital library usage reached 995,635 cases, up 12.3 percent from 886,943 cases in 2024.

In particular, use of electronic magazines and newspapers rose to 549,025 cases, an increase of more than 62 percent from 338,905 cases the previous year, clearly indicating a shift away from paper-based information consumption toward digital reading through electronic publications.

E-book use also maintained a stable upward trend. In 2025, loans of owned e-books totaled 159,812 volumes, up 12.7 percent from 141,788 volumes in the previous year. Subscription-based e-books were also widely used, with 115,859 loans recorded, demonstrating that e-book content has become a routine reading option in citizens’ daily lives.

These trends in e-book use show that in a digital environment, citizens are continuing to read in diverse ways tailored to their circumstances and needs.

Use of cooperative, inter-library services also showed a marked increase. In 2025, total usage of inter-library loan services, including inter-library return services, Book Sea, and Book Narae, reached 740,123 cases, up from 654,472 cases in 2024. Among these, inter-library return services recorded 728,153 uses, representing a 13.2 percent increase from 643,455 uses the previous year and the largest growth among the services.

This rise in service use is interpreted as the combined result of growing reading demand among citizens and improved convenience stemming from strengthened cooperative infrastructure among libraries.

Meanwhile, according to the Library Big Data Analysis Platform Library Information Naru, the most frequently borrowed book in Busan in 2025 was Human Acts by author Han Kang.

Other works by Han Kang, including We Do Not Part and The Vegetarian, also ranked highly, indicating a sustained reading trend. This is interpreted as evidence that the surge of interest in Han Kang following her becoming the first Korean to win the Nobel Prize in Literature in October 2023 continued through 2025. In addition, books combining popularity with literary merit, such as The Convenience Store by Kim Ho-yeon and One of Us Is Lying by Yang Gui-ja, also enjoyed steady popularity.

Park Eun-a, Director of Busan Library, stated, “Even amid changes driven by artificial intelligence and the digital environment, reading activities among Busan citizens have not diminished. Instead, they are evolving toward greater diversity in both form and method, spanning printed books and digital resources.” She added, “Busan Library will continue to expand library services that broaden citizens’ reading choices and respond to the changing environment.”