1 Introduction
2 The goals and content of the law
2.1 Supporting individual library
2.2 Systemization of national libraries
3 The responsibility of an expert
4 Expectation and Prospect
1 Introduction
In Korea, after world war II, the legal foundation for library enacted was "Library Law" of 1963. The library law was revised to a great extent in 1987 and again amended to be "Library Promotion Law" in 1991.
It is promulgated in the name of "Promotion Law of Library and Reading" again in 1994. "Promotion law of Library and Reading" (referred to "Library Law" hereafter) provides the strong background to support and to develop library, by stipulating kinds of regulations to meet the changing library culture of Korea.
There are more than twenty regulations related to librarianship in Korea. However, let us take a close look at the Library Law, which directly describes the library system and policy of Korea.
2 The goals and content of the law
The current Library Law of Korea reflects an understanding of what needs to be improved and reinforced for Korean libraries to perform fully its contemporary function and responsibility.
And, it is also believed that legal supports may be essential not only to improve library service, but to enhance the ability to operate libraries. The Library Law assumes two objects on these understanding and belief. On the one hand, it intends to support all kinds of domestic libraries to a certain level and, on the other hand to organize the capacity of all libraries in Korea to make the best use of the information resources at a national level.
2.1 Supporting individual library
There are about 10,000 libraries in Korea. The numbers of libraries by type are as follow (as of Dec. 30, 1996).
The Library Law gives an emphasis on the level of "power" which a library has as one individual library, and at the same time intends to increase the power greatly.
We easily find this intention in several regulations which have objects to change the concept and roles of library and to improve the quality of library service.
The general main points are as follows;
- It aims to modernize the library functions on a legal foundation which includes the definition, object, and terminology of library services.
- It imposes a responsibility on center and local governments to found library and to encourage a corporation, a group and an individual to establish public libraries, to increase the number of public libraries.
- It recognizes librarian's status and roles
in specializing libraries services.
- It prescribes that more librarians should be stationed in each library.
- It ordains the "first ranked librarian" to improve the librarian's qualification, such as education background, research achievement and work experiences so that the function of library and professionalism of librarians may receive an recognition and respect.
- It prescribes, in order to secure the specialization of library manpower, that only the person with the librarian certificate can be a civil librarian and that only the civil librarian is qualified to be a director of a public library.
- All the local public libraries should keep "Board of Director" consisting of representatives of local residents. It appropriates local tax for the expenses to operate the library and, if necessary, library can take an allowance from the government within budgetary limit.
- It prescribed that the central government should support to develop libraries and to improve librarians' qualifications, by establishing "Library Promotion Fund" raised through the national treasury and donation.
2.2 National library network
Every individual library in Korea should be a member of national information network, especially in the age of information. That is to say, we should change common traditional concepts such as "our local library", "our school library" and "our company library", which has been generally accepted until now. And all librarians in the country should form a national library network as a single team needed to circulate essential information to all parts of society.
According to the above mandate, Library Law explicitly shows its intention to organize the capacity of all type of libraries in Korea into one single system. This intention can be seen in several regulations to intend to integrate bibliographic information, to establish the national central library system, to standardize the library services, rationalize the library operation, and so on. Now, the main points are as follows;
- The Library Law calls for a "library network" system, that increase the effectiveness of library services in circulating, managing, and using library materials, in addition to the cooperation with other libraries. (As for the structure of library network, it should have centers in two levels - central and regional levels. The individual library is to be connected to a local center. In this way, it establishes a kind of pyramid organization.)
- Along with the library cooperation network, it prescribes the necessary organization to make it possible to establish the national bibliographic information and to effectively operate the library.
- It prescribes to facilitate a variety of necessary standardization for the management and operation of bibliographic information, including the ISBN and the ISSN.
- It nominates the national library of Korea as a central library in "Library Network" and entrusts the library with the management of the "national bibliographic information system" and responsibility to support and lead all the national libraries so as to practically establish the national central library system.
- It seeks for the balanced development of libraries by organizing the "Committee for Library Development" under the Minister of Culture.
We can summarize the above-mentioned goals and main contents of the library in the following diagram.
3 The responsibility of an expert
In short, we can say that Library Law contributes itself to improving library services by endorsing professional librarians more power to improve library operation, and by securing necessary political supports. This implies that librarians' responsibilities and roles for library development become much bigger.
Now, it is librarians' assignments to secure citizen's supports, by proving the hypothesis that it is much more desirable for professional librarians to operate libraries. In fact, I can feel that librarians in Korea become conscious of the much heavier responsibility these days.
4 Expectation and Prospect
In Korea, the current Library Law surely provides the strong background for library development. However, it is hard to say that the content of this law is enough in itself, and the law may not be the only factor to stimulate the library development.
We need to change the social understanding on library, to improve the relationship closely related fields with library such as education. And the person concerned should be armed with the strong will to realize the spirit of the law no matter how primitive it may be.
Therefore every field of the society should understand the current situation cooperating with each other, and librarians should keep trying to come true the spirit to develop the Korean libraries successfully. In other words, we can say that libraries in Korea now stride its first step for a leap.