Abstract

The purpose of this study is to analyze performance factors of the school and community libraries in its beginning, growth, development, and expansion to identify the assignment of the movement at the present stage. In this study, we performed interviews with those concerned with the school community and library movement and collected various relevant literature. The school and community libraries movement can be divided into five stages including beginning, growth, development, expansion, and turning point. Therefore performance and significance of school and community libraries shown in the history of the movement may be summarized as follows. First, school and community libraries were established mainly in areas isolated from cultural benefits, contributing to resolving problems such as a lack of public libraries and concentration of small libraries in certain areas. Second, the movement promoted the operation of school libraries by providing books for small-sized elementary schools in farming & fishing villages and mountain villages, libraries that were insufficient in books. Third, the movement utilized the minimal personnel, books, and spaces of school libraries to provide library services to community residents, securing permanence of library services, if nothing else. Fourth, school and community libraries played the role of local community-based libraries, intensifying the community spirit of residents and vitalizing communities.