[Suwon Ilbo=Reporter Yu Je-seong] Gwangmyeong City is making efforts to spread reading culture across all generations.
The city will hold the proclamation ceremony for the 2026 "Gwangmyeong Citizens Read One Book Together" Book of the Year at 2:00 PM on the 25th in the auditorium of Soha Library.
"Gwangmyeong Citizens Read One Book Together" is Gwangmyeong City's signature reading promotion project where citizens share and communicate through the same book.
The proclamation ceremony is designed as an occasion to publicly announce the Book of the Year and officially launch the reading relay.
The city conducted citizen recommendation submissions from January onwards and received a total of 177 books. Subsequently, after two rounds of internal review and deliberation by the citizen selection committee, three final books were confirmed by age group.
The 2026 Gwangmyeong City Books of the Year are: △General category: <Where Light Leads> (by Baek Hui-seong) △Youth category: <Yul's Perspective> (by Kim Min-seo) △Children's category: <Always Warm Juk House> (by Woo Shin-yeong).
The selected books contain intergenerational concerns and resonance. The general category work <Where Light Leads> is a novel that portrays memories of family and love through an architect's perspective, set in an old mansion in Paris.
The youth category <Yul's Perspective> tells a coming-of-age story of a middle school student entering relationships after keeping distance from the world, while the children's category <Always Warm Juk House> conveys the warm meaning of community against the backdrop of a neighborhood juk (rice porridge) shop.
The event will be held in two parts. In Part 1, there will be the proclamation of the Book of the Year, followed by the first citizen runner's book handover ceremony for the reading relay and citizen representative readings.
In Part 2, author Baek Hui-seong, an architect and novelist, will serve as the speaker and share stories about spaces and memories in his work with citizens.
Starting with the proclamation ceremony, the city plans to operate various citizen participation programs including reading relays to naturally establish reading culture in daily life.
Acting Mayor Choi Hye-min (Vice Mayor) stated, "The Book of the Year proclamation ceremony is a meaningful occasion to begin reading with citizens for the year," adding, "We hope many citizens will participate in the proclamation ceremony and author's lecture to have a precious time sharing thoughts through books as a medium."
For more information, visit the Gwangmyeong Library website (gmlib.gm.go.kr).
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