Yangcheon-gu, led by district mayor Lee Gi-jae, has launched a "Public Library Living Lab" — a new initiative in which residents identify local issues and work together to develop solutions centered on the district's libraries.
The Public Library Living Lab is a participatory innovation model that transforms libraries from simple reading spaces into platforms where experts and community members form an operating council to tackle local challenges. The library serves as a platform connecting diverse stakeholders, while residents take part in every stage — from setting the agenda to implementation and evaluation.
The Yangcheon Cultural Foundation drew up its Living Lab plan in April and opened a dedicated "Library Living Lab" page on the Yangcheon integrated library website in May. On June 30, the foundation held a Living Lab seminar and the first regular meeting of the operating council at Yangcheon Central Library, marking the start of full-scale implementation.
The seminar introduced the library's evolving role and the direction of the Living Lab, and presented the two core pilot projects slated for this year: collecting stories from local bookstores, and developing a book-trail tour of Yangcheon.
Both projects were identified as priorities through Y-READ, a resident-participation reading initiative run last year, and will be carried out using a minimum viable product (MVP) approach — testing ideas at a small scale first, verifying their effectiveness, then refining and expanding them. The method allows resident ideas to be put into action quickly and improved over time.
Two core pilot projects: collecting local bookstore stories and developing a Yangcheon book-trail tour
The bookstore story collection project sends resident experimenters to visit neighborhood bookstores, conduct interviews and write about their experiences, producing content such as essays and card-format news posts. The goal is to document local bookstores not merely as retail outlets but as cultural assets of the community. Content capturing each store's unique story is set to be exhibited at the Yangcheon Book Festival in October.
The Yangcheon book-trail tour project, launching in August, will have resident experimenters research the district's history and the origins of its place names using library materials, then design a tour route linking historically significant sites, bookstores and alleyways. Once complete, the route will be walked with residents at a dedicated event, after which a story booklet with an accompanying map will be produced and distributed through the libraries.
The bookstore story collection project runs from June through September, while the book-trail tour project runs from August through October. Participants for both projects are recruited on a rolling basis through the Library Living Lab page on the Yangcheon integrated library website. Residents can also submit ideas about everyday issues freely through a "365-day open idea channel" within the Living Lab. For more information, contact the Yangcheon Cultural Foundation.
"The ideas of residents who know their community best are the greatest force for change," district mayor Lee said. "We will continue to work with residents to solve a wide range of local problems, and we will actively support the library in establishing itself as an open platform that connects people with people, and communities with knowledge."
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