Busan is good

Read Books, Get Back 50% in Book Exchange Vouchers… Busan Library Launches the 2026 “Happy Book Sharing Project”

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Busan Library (hereinafter referred to as the “Library”) is carrying out the “Happy Book Sharing Project,” bringing together citizens, businesses, and bookstores to revitalize local bookstores and promote a culture of reading.

The Happy Book Sharing Project allows citizens to bring books they have finished reading to participating local bookstores and exchange them for book vouchers worth 50% of the book’s retail price, up to KRW 15,000 per book. These vouchers can then be used to purchase new books.

Through this initiative, citizens can reduce the cost of buying books, while local bookstores benefit from increased sales. In addition, the exchanged books are donated to small libraries, Lawn Libraries, and Busan Sea Libraries, creating a virtuous cycle in which valuable knowledge resources are shared throughout the Busan community.

This year, 44 local bookstores located across Busan’s 15 districts and counties are participating in the project.

The Happy Book Sharing Project is also establishing itself as a successful model of public-private cooperation based on continuous corporate social contribution investments by Busan-based companies.

Sejung Group has supported the project’s stable operation by donating books worth approximately KRW 30 million annually for three consecutive years, from 2024 through this year. Such collaborative efforts to support local bookstores and expand reading culture have become a model case of a sustainable reading ecosystem created jointly by citizens, businesses, and public institutions.

Citizens wishing to participate may bring books published on or after January 1, 2024, to any of the 44 participating bookstores and receive book vouchers worth 50% of the book’s retail price. The vouchers can then be used as a discount when purchasing books at the same bookstore.

However, reference books, textbooks, study materials, dictionaries, non-commercial publications, periodicals, foreign-language books, high-priced books costing more than KRW 30,000, and damaged books are not eligible for exchange.

Book vouchers must be used at the bookstore that issued them by December 31, 2026.

Detailed information about the project is available on the Library’s website (https://library.busan.go.kr) and Instagram account (@busanlibrary). Citizens planning to participate are advised to check the notices section of the Library website in advance to confirm whether applications for book exchanges at a particular bookstore have closed early before visiting.

For further inquiries, please contact the Library Cooperation Team at Busan Library (+82-51-310-5434).

Park Eun-a, Director of Busan Library, said, “When you clear space on your bookshelf, you help fill your neighbors’ minds with knowledge; when you open the doors of a bookstore, you help revitalize the local economy. We hope many Busan citizens will take part in the Happy Book Sharing Project, where anyone can become a champion of sharing through just a single book.”