Royal Asiatic Society Collecting books since 1900
The RASKB office is filled with books, some part of the library and others part of the bookstore. / Courtesy of Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch
By Michael Welles
What is it about a library that draws us in? Is it the smell and the feel of old books? Is it the accumulation of knowledge and information we can reach out and touch? Is it the sense of history as we sort through the shelves?
For me, as the librarian of the
, it's all three. We have books that date back to the time of Lincoln's assassination, or to put it in terms of Korean history, we have books from the time King Gojong ascended to the throne. We have the
of the RASKB, from when it started in 1900.
When I became the RASKB librarian in 2010, the post had remained vacant for 20 years, but the library has managed to survive through more difficult times, such as when it had no space, or when there were no books! It has survived through the 1910-45 Japanese occupation, World War II and the 1950-53 Korean War.
The first person named RASKB librarian, a British missionary named Alexander Kenmure, was actually appointed with the title “Honorary Librarian,” and his main duties were to see the publication and distribution of transactions. Eventually, books were collected for the library from various sources, including missionaries and diplomats (the main foreign English-speaking population in Korea back then) and the collection grew.
During WWII, the collection was stored in basements of both the Christian Literature Society and the British and Foreign Bible Society. Following the war, the books were stored in cabinets on the second floor of the Christian Literature Society. In 1950, the books moved to room 412 of the U.S. Embassy Building, but many books were lost during the Korean War. However, further donations from members helped the library grow.
There have been numerous librarians over the years. RASKB records are a bit spotty as to how many. At times the turnover in the librarian position seemed almost annual, but there has always been someone to care for the books.
In 1987 the library was transferred to what was then known as the Social Science Library, and the title of librarian was retired, since the council felt the books were well cared for by their librarian.
In 2010, the library was transferred to what was then known as the Inje University Annex in central Seoul, when the title of librarian was revived and I was appointed librarian. At that time, the library was approximately 1,600 books. As librarian, I have overseen acquisitions and donations to see the library grow to over 3,000 items.
Our library is now housed in the RASKB Office in
. Following the example of the first librarian, we have solicited book donations from RASKB members and anyone who has any books of interest to donate. The library contents follow the interests of our members who have donated books, so we have many books on Korean culture, religion, folktales and literature, among other topics.
Some of our books are one of a kind. For example, we have some volumes from the Royal Asiatic Society China in Shanghai, published in approximately 1860-1865, and we have found many of our rare books date to the early 20th century, including some of the earliest original RASKB publications.
I suppose in a digital age, one could ask why we should take an interest in maintaining a library. This is a topic even for the RASKB Council, since we have a book collection but are not a lending library. My answer is that not everything is digitized, and our library has many interesting titles for people researching Korean history and culture. That is why I spend my spare time nosing around bookstores looking for interesting books to add to the library in addition to looking for donations.
If you are interested in seeing what's in the library,
.
Michael Welles is the librarian of the RASKB. Contact
or
Royal Asiatic Society Korea Branch (RASKB)
first copies of Transactions, the annual journal
the Korean Christian Building on Daehangno