The Janghang Rural Public Library, entrusted to and operated by JBNU Industry-University Cooperation (Director Park Yun-mi), was recognized for its contribution to promoting local reading culture and revitalizing public library services and received the Chungcheongnam-do Governor's Award.

At the opening ceremony of the '2026 Chungcheongnam-do Reading Festival' held on the 11th, the Janghang Rural Public Library received the '2026 Municipal Public Library Merit Award' in the private sector, presented by Chungcheongnam-do, in recognition of its contributions to library development and the promotion of reading culture. The award honors individuals and organizations that have contributed to the development and advancement of public libraries, the spread of reading culture, and the improvement of operations and services.

The Janghang Rural Public Library has been entrusted to and operated by JBNU Industry-University Cooperation since 2012. Despite the challenges of Seocheon County, an area experiencing population decline, the library has steadily expanded resident-focused reading and cultural services through proactive pursuit of competitive funding programs and close cooperation with the local community.

In particular, from 2023 through this year the library secured 53 competitive national and local government-funded projects, obtaining approximately KRW 473 million in external funding. Using these resources, it has operated tailored services reflecting the needs of different generations and groups, including adult literacy education, reading programs for persons with disabilities, children and youth reading programs, and programs for middle-aged and senior residents.

To serve residents who have difficulty using the library during the daytime, the library also offers evening hours and reading culture programs. To improve reading accessibility for information-vulnerable groups, it established reading assistive devices worth approximately KRW 8 million through competitive funding, and it has promoted balanced development of local library services through an itinerant librarian support program for small libraries.

Expanding diverse reading culture activities through cooperation with regional institutions such as the National Institute of Ecology, the National Marine Biodiversity Resource Center, and the Seocheon County Comprehensive Welfare Center for Persons with Disabilities also contributed to the recognition. The library has also played a role in establishing an institutional foundation for the spread of reading culture, including contributing to the enactment of the 'Seocheon County Ordinance on the Promotion of Reading Culture'.

Park Yun-mi, Director of the Janghang Rural Public Library, said, 'This award recognizes the efforts of Janghang Library made together with local residents,' and added, 'We will continue to be a library that is close to residents' lives by providing reading and cultural services that carefully reflect local characteristics and residents' needs.'