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Libraries are described as the treasure of human civilization. Libraries of a country are indeed the barometer of its culture. It is said that North Korea highly values libraries as an important means of consolidating its socialist system. Today, we’ll learn more about libraries in North Korea. First, lawyer Oh Hyun-jong explains the history of North Korean libraries. 

Before Korea’s liberation from Japanese colonial rule in 1945, there weren’t many libraries in the northern part of the Korean Peninsula. During the colonial period, there were seven in the area north of the 38th parallel. 

Among them, the largest one was the Pyongyang prefectural library that opened in 1928. As of 1937, it had the second-largest collection of books on the entire Korean Peninsula, after the Seoul prefectural library. 

After liberation, the Pyongyang prefectural library was renamed the Pyongyang city library and the number of libraries increased rapidly in North Korea. It is said that then-leader Kim Il-sung was deeply interested in libraries. In March 1946, he announced a 20-point platform under the name of the Provisional People’s Committee of North Korea. Of the platform, No.17 calls for the nation to actively develop national culture, science and technology, and to expand the number of theaters, libraries, radio stations and movie theaters. This shows that North Korea was committed to developing libraries as one of state projects. 

Some analysts say that Kim Il-sung showed keen interest in libraries because he wanted to use them as ideal places to publicize the socialist regime and teach people the nation’s self-reliance or juche ideology. 

The National Central Library, the Library of the Academy of Sciences and the Library of Kim Il-sung University are the three representative libraries in North Korea. The Library of Kim Il-sung University has supported research and studies of students and professors since it opened after the establishment of the prestigious school in October 1946. The Library of the Academy of Sciences opened in December 1952 to assist elite people in their academic research at the largest research institute in the country. And the Pyongyang city library was renamed the National Central Library. 

The Pyongyang city library started operation on November 13, 1945, and North Korea reorganized it as the National Central Library in 1946. At the time, the library had 35-thousand books, a mere 12 percent of those held by the National Library of Korea that opened in Seoul in 1945. But the number of books in the North Korean library increased nearly 3.5 times to 115-thousand in June 1950. Unfortunately, it was destroyed during the Korean War, with 60 percent of the books lost. 

After the war, then-North Korean leader Kim Il-sung instructed the restoration of the library, which opened again on August 15, 1954. 

At the end of that year, the North built a three-story annex building with a floor space of 720 square meters and enlarged the reading room and the book stacks by 1.5 times and two times, respectively. The book stacks were so large that their length would have exceeded 5 kilometers if they had been placed end to end. It seems North Korea restored the library very quickly. Many more people used the library, prompting the library to even allow people outside its jurisdiction to check out books. 

The National Central Library in Pyongyang was renamed the Central Library in 1973 and turned into the Grand People’s Study House in 1982. It is located in the central district of the capital, overlooking the famous Kim Il-sung Square. Created in 1953, the square is the place where hundreds of thousands of people gather when military parades or other important events take place. Situated at the heart of Pyongyang, the Grand People’s Study House shows the regime’s great interest in its library. 

The Grand People’s Study House opened on April 1, 1982, timed with Kim Il-sung’s 70th birthday. Renowned local architects reportedly participated in the design of the building. The image of the building is shown on the back of the 5-won bill. North Korea attaches great significance to this building, considering that banknotes in many countries generally feature the images of important figures. 

The size of the building was decided in consideration of its symbolic significance and harmony with adjacent structures at the Kim Il-sung Square. Its multi-layered roofs are topped with 750-thousand greenish blue tiles. Kim Il-sung chose the color himself. The color of the roof tiles is lighter at bottom, darker at top. It is said that harmony with the blue sky was taken into consideration. Inspired by cranes flying in a flock, spreading their wings, the building symbolizes Korean people moving towards the future with spirit. 

The reinforced concrete structure with Korean traditional tiled roofs is a very distinctive building.

The Grand People’s Study House is the library that North Korea boasts and one of the must-visit tourist spots in Pyongyang. Foreign visitors to this monumental building include former Chinese President Jiang Zemin in 2001, former South Korean President Roh Moo-hyun’s wife Kwon Yang-sook in 2007 and former Google chief executive Eric Schmidt in 2013. It is the largest library, not only in North Korea, but on the entire Korean Peninsula. 

With a total floor space of 100-thousand square meters, the 10-story building is 150 meters wide and 64 meters high. It is about three times the size of the National Library of Korea in Seoul, in terms of floor space. The North Korean library can hold up to 30 million books and accommodate 12-thousand people a day. It has as many as 600 rooms, including 23 reading rooms with 6,000 seats, 14 lecture rooms and other rooms for recording, consultation and music appreciation. The rooms are found around book stacks installed at the center of each floor. People over the age of 17 with passes are allowed to use the facilities. For those who want to check out books, they may request a certain book, which is then delivered through a conveyor belt system. 

The Grand People’s Study House is a place for all local people to study, as its name indicates. North Korea praises it as the center for intellectualizing society. As a place for learning, the library actually offers various education programs to citizens. 

It is said that 800 librarians and 200 lecturers work at the library. The instructors give lectures on sweeping topics, including science and technology and foreign languages. Researchers or professors are stationed at the consultation rooms next to reading rooms to answer visitors’ questions. The Grand People’s Study House provides guidance for all libraries nationwide.

By connecting the computer networks of Kim Il-sung University, the Central Information Agency of Science and Technology, research institutes, enterprises and factories nationwide, the library provides extensive information about science and technology. Many libraries in countries around the world provide some educational or cultural programs. Notably, the North Korean library offers lectures on a variety of subjects. 

The Library Law in North Korea states that libraries serve as a key base for learning by promoting awareness of ideology among the public and raising the level of technology and culture. It also defines libraries as the supplier of new science and technology and the organizer of social learning. Apparently, North Korea has shown great interest in the role of libraries. 

Next time, we’ll learn about the characteristics of North Korean libraries and digital libraries in the country.