S. Korea's first smart "drive-through" library opens

 

 

Since the start of the pandemic, drive-throughs and non-face-to-face services have been used in various fields. An unmanned drive-through library in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province lets users automatically borrow and return books by recognizing vehicle license plates. Jeong Eun-joo explains. A vehicle enters a booth set up on at one side of a parking lot. Once the car stops, a small window opens and a book comes out. This is a drive-through library. The Yulbong Smart Library's "book drive-through" in Chungcheongbuk-do Province is the first of its kind in South Korea. The library recognizes vehicle license plate numbers and allows users to automatically borrow and return books. Smart libraries where users can apply to borrow a book online and pick them up from an unmanned system already exist. But this new drive-through library is more convenient. It's also possible to borrow books without car license plate number recognition, but using membership cards. The library is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. The Yulbong Smart Library has about 250 books. The inter-library loan service also enables users to pick up and return books from 19 libraries and 9 small libraries in the Cheongju area. The Cheongju Municipal Library expects the new system will help increase citizen satisfaction when using the library and promote reading. "We're the first library in the country to use the vehicle number recognition system. The service allows citizens to conveniently borrow books without getting out of the car if they've reserved a book online in advance." The city of Cheongju plans to install unmanned libraries in areas where there are no public libraries, and expand drive-through services based on the success of Yulbong Smart Library. Jeong Eun-joo, Arirang News.


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Vocabulary:
1. Unmanned -not having or needing a crew or staff 
2. Municipal - relating to a city or town or its governing body 
3. Satisfaction - fulfillment of one's wishes, expectations, or needs, or the pleasure derived from this 

 

Questions:
1. Talk about the unmanned drive-through library in Cheongju, Chungcheongbuk-do Province.
2. Discuss the process of borrowing books from the said facility.
3. Where does the city of Cheongju plan to install more unmanned libraries?
4. Give your insight into smart libraries.
5. What do you think libraries will be like 50 years from now?