Seoul’s Public Libraries: Places to Read and Stay

For somewhere to choose a book and read it straight away, Seoul Metropolitan Library in front of City Hall is convenient. Its general collection rooms divide subjects by floor. Social and natural sciences are on the 1st floor; literature and history are on the 2nd. The tall wall bookshelves and solid-wood Saenggak Maru also provide spaces for reading.

Anyone can read the general collections on site. To take books home, get a library card. People who live, work or study in Seoul qualify for full membership. Other South Korean citizens qualify for associate membership, which also allows borrowing of physical materials.

If your reading extends to family genealogies, head to Jeongdok Public Library in Bukchon. The language, literature and genealogy room holds poetry, novels, plays and language materials. You can also consult genealogies organised by surname and related theoretical works. Genealogies cannot be borrowed, so allow time to read them on site.

Collection rooms for reading and self-study rooms operate separately. Self-study rooms 2 and 3 allow laptops. Registering on the website gives you associate membership and lets you reserve seats in the study rooms and digital collection room. Book borrowing is a separate service for full members who have completed the documentary verification process.

There is also a space for reading art materials near Hongik University Station. Look for Maporium on the 5th floor of Mapo Pyeongsaeng Hakseupgwan, a lifelong learning centre with library collection rooms. Maporium brings together picture books, art books, comics and bestsellers. Materials in this space cannot be borrowed. Allow time to browse and compare books.

The general collection rooms are free to use. For a self-study room, collect a seat ticket from the machine in the entrance hall. Tablets are allowed in self-study room 1, but laptops are not. If you bring a laptop, choose the self-study room for portable learning devices.

For an unhurried browse through Korean literature, Namsan Public Library in Huam-dong is a good fit. The literature room and Korean literature collection hold criticism and literary history as well as poetry and novels. Literature from other countries is available in the same collection room. It is a useful place to move from a work itself to its background.

Spaces are divided between the 3rd-floor literature room and the 5th-floor reading rooms and laptop room. The bibliotherapy and language room closes earlier than the literature room on weekdays. After 18:00 on weekdays, however, you can request its materials at the literature room desk. Present a printout showing the location of the book you need.

For general books, reference materials and a place to keep studying, consider Gangnam Public Library in Samseong-dong. It operates a general collection room on the 4th floor and a separate self-study room on the 2nd. Both are designated for middle-school students and older visitors. A separate children’s collection room is on the 1st floor.

Borrowing members can take home items from the collection except reference materials. Associate members registered on the website can use facility services, including the seat reservation system. Full membership approval for borrowing requires identification and proof of eligibility. It suits a visit that moves from reading general books to a study seat.