The 1980  Ramon Magsaysay Award for Public Service

RESPONSE of  Ohm Dae-Sup
Ramon Magsaysay Award Presentation Ceremonies
31 August 1980 Manila, Philippines

Upon receiving the 1980 Ramon Magsaysay Award, I would like to begin by expressing my wholehearted appreciation for this most honored Award; and on this 73rd birthday anniversary of the late Philippine President, I wish to pay my highest respects to the memory of him who was the guardian of freedom and justice for this and other parts of the world.

My modest campaign for the nationwide reading movement for Korean farmers and fishermen, which the Magsaysay Award recognizes, dates back about 30 years. At that time Korean farmers and fishermen had little opportunity to read books. The few public libraries which were available were in cities. Books were the exclusive possession of the privileged elite of the society.

The people, especially farmers and fishermen, had to rely completely on their traditional way of thinking and life. My purpose in establishing village mini-libraries was to enable them to learn for themselves through books and to improve their way of thinking and life through the knowledge thus acquired.

My idea in establishing the mini-libraries was to provide small but easy-of-access reading facilities for farmers and fishermen. After I started this movement it grew rapidly with support from various segments of society. The movement now has the strong support of the Korean Government.

Today mini-libraries have been established in over 34,000 villages, which represent 95 percent of all the villages of Korea. Villagers themselves now operate established libraries without outside help.

As a result of their consciousness of their need for knowledge and information from books in this rapidly changing social situation, villagers have begun to acquire books by themselves. Although the number of books each mini-library has collected on its own is small so far, the people's understanding of the value of books has grown substantially.

I firmly believe that for those whose formal education is limited, as is the case with farmers and fishermen, the most effective and permanent method of self-education is voluntarily to read books. In most' developing countries, however, government investment in public libraries is grossly inadequate. As a result, the general public is in a pitiful situation with no systematic channel for obtaining books to meet their desire to read.

In modern society everybody has a right to read and acquire knowledge. This is an inherent right of a human being in this age. I also firmly believe that only knowledge can liberate human beings. Recognition of my work by the Ramon Magsaysay Award Foundation convinces me once again that book reading is the prerequisite for progress of any developing country.