Hwaseong signs MOU to activate book cafe, expand reading welfare at care housing complex

Hwaseong City announced Wednesday it had signed an MOU to activate a book cafe and promote reading welfare at the community center of "Hwaseong On-iumchae," a care-support housing complex.

The agreement aims to provide residents of the care housing complex and local community members with a better reading environment and to create an everyday cultural space where anyone can easily access books.

Under the MOU, Hwaseong City will provide administrative support for the book cafe's operations and build a cooperative framework among the participating institutions. The Hwaseong Culture and Tourism Foundation will supply books and periodicals, operate a rotating library service, and offer advisory support on collection management. Welllife Baekse-in Social Cooperative will handle day-to-day operations of the book cafe space, manage the collection, run reading culture programs and oversee promotions.

The book cafe inside the On-iumchae community center will operate as an open cultural space accessible to both complex residents and the wider community. The city expects it to foster intergenerational communication and broader community exchange through a shared interest in reading.