The government on Tuesday announced a plan to greatly increase the number of public libraries, their books and manpower as part of efforts to realize its goal of building a culturally thriving country.

By 2018, the government will gradually increase the number of public libraries to 1,100 from 828 as of the end of 2012 and make 2.5 books per eligible user available, up from 1.53 books per user in 2012, the presidential committee on library policy said during a press briefing here.

Public libraries will come to have more librarians -- from the current 4.2 per library to six in 2018 -- and serve less users per librarian -- from 14,716 per librarian to 7,575 in 2018, the committee said.

"We expect South Korea will be born anew as an advanced country in terms of library service in 2018 when the development plan is set to complete," Choi Eun-joo, chairman of the committee, told reporters. (Yonhap News)