Ohm Dae-Sup

1980 Ramon Magsaysay Awardee for Public Service from Korea. The Village Mini-Library Movement originated from a fortuitous happening in Ohm Dae-Sup’s childhood after he moved with his poor family from Korea to the Kobe area of Japan. While living in Tokuyama City he discovered that a wealthy man had opened his library to neighbors, and Ohm was amazed at the knowledge stored in books. As he read avidly, Ohm vowed that when he had made enough money he would bring back books to villagers in Korea.

Ohm used his private collection of some 3,000 volumes to found a library open to the public. By bicycle he distributed metal bookcases to 50 villages, organizing a free circulating library. After two years he moved his library to Kyongju, and discovering that it was not enough merely to distribute books, he organized community reading clubs to overcome the villagers' apathy to reading. After 10 years, the Ma-eul Munko (Village Mini-Library) association was formally inaugurated. Despite scoffers, Ohm continued selling all his personal assets to pay the costs of the Mini-Library Association. In 18 years Ohm’s perseverance has resulted in mini-libraries in 34,389, or 95 percent, of South Korea's villages.