Ansan Media Library helps community learn English

An exterior view of Ansan Media Library / Courtesy of Ansan Media Library

By Baek Byung-yeul

ANSAN -- A woman in her 30s surnamed Kim visits a nearby library three times a week with her two daughters, ages five and six. At the library, located in Ansan, Gyeonggi Province, she spends time reading English books with her children.

“In this hot weather, I feel lucky to have this library near my home. Outside it’s hot, but we can stay cool here and I can narrate stories from English books to my children,” Kim said.

The new Ansan Media Library, first opened in June 2016, is becoming a primary gathering place for people in this city.

What makes this public library special to nearby residents is 90 percent of its collection is books written in English.

“Since we have the city’s biggest library, Ansan Joongang (central) Library, near here, we decided to build an English-focused library,” an assistant guide at the library said, Tuesday. “As we want to emphasize that this library is specialized in English, we came up with the name Ansan Media Library through a public contest,” she said, adding it doesn’t have any different title in Korean.

Ansan Media Library is also specialized in media-related facilities. Visitors can enjoy movies in small theaters in the library and also use video and audio recording studios to produce multimedia content. “Since this library is only a year old, we have about 200 visitors every day,” the library official said.

Computers are installed at the English reading level testing room at Ansan Media Library. / Courtesy of Ansan Media Library

The three-story building is comprised of a communal place selling drinks and snacks and an auditorium on the first floor; reading rooms providing content written in English on the second floor; and audio and video recording studios on the third floor.

In the first reading room on the second floor the shelves are stocked with books for toddlers and children, mainly fairy tales. There are also books in English for children and books translated into Korean.

Inside the first reading room, there is a separate Kids Zone space so children can read books comfortably lying on mats. The shelves in the room are filled with pop-up books and sound books helping children find joy and pleasure in reading and learning. There are nursing rooms and restrooms for visitors inside the Kids Zone as well.

In the second reading room on the second floor, visitors can self-evaluate their reading skill levels using Lexile measures. Developed by U.S.-based company MetaMetrics, the Lexile scale measures a person’s reading ability.

There are six computers for the reading test which can be conducted free of charge for residents of Ansan and other cities in Gyeonggi Province.

Not only students but also adults come here to take the test, which requires a reservation. “Though the test has no official use, we have five tests takers a day on average,” said Bang Eun-hee, a librarian at the reading room. “Even if they receive a lower Lexile level, they can take the test again for better results.”

The books in the reading rooms are classified into five levels based on the Lexile scale and visitors can choose English-written books depending on their reading levels. The second reading room has books in levels three to five while the first reading room has first- and second-level books.

“We have 15,000 books and more than 90 percent of them are in the English language while less than 10 percent are translations. For students who don’t know what to read first, we have a collection of books that won the Newbery Medal. And for people who want to improve their English listening skills, we provide audio books as well,” Bang said.

Visitors can produce their own recordings at the recording studio of Ansan Media Library. / Courtesy of Ansan Media Library

On the third floor, visitors can make their own video or audio productions in the recording studios. “Once you make a reservation through the library’s website, you can use the studio for free,” a worker at the studio said. “It is not well known that this library has recording studios. But we have some visitors using the facilities to record their podcasts or make their own records.”

The Ansan Media Library is located in Danwon-gu, Ansan. For more information, visit lib.iansan.net or call 031-481-2702.

Visitors use public computers at Ansan Media Library, Tuesday. / Korea Times photo by Baek Byung-yeul