VOL.95/2026.06

 

Life and Community Built Through Books: Gochang Book Village

 

2025.11.03

 

In Gochang, Jeonbuk State, there is “Gochang Book Village (고창서점마을).” Officially opened on October 11, 2025, it is Korea’s first village of bookstores, bringing together six independent bookstores that each specialize in distinct genres - philosophy, graphic novels, ecology, travel, and picture books. Why, in an era when even large bookstores in bustling cities struggle to survive, did these individuals gather in a small rural town? Lee Yoon-Ho (이윤호), the village head, recounts how Gochang Book Village - created by a diverse group of people including literary critics, planners, and teachers who dreamed of England’s famous book town Hay-on-Wye - came into being.

 

 

How Gochang Book Village was born

 

The creation of Gochang Book Village began by chance. Living a busy life in the city, I often pondered what a balanced and proper life was. Korean society has risen to the ranks of global economic powers through intense competition and compressed growth. Yet, I worried that our society was becoming too “thin,” dominated by a single value of efficiency and the worship of speed above all else. So, I wanted to build and live in a community made up of small, modest bookstores. Then, not so long after, I came to share this thought during a humanities lecture, and a couple who sympathized with the idea suggested that we visit their hometown of Gochang together and look for a possible site. When we actually went there, the wide, open meadow stretched out before us like a scene from a European film. The gentle breeze blowing over the rolling hills felt peaceful, and as I stood there in that wind, the image of a bookstore village like Hay-on-Wye came to mind.
I began gathering people who shared the vision, and we studied together every week. The first task was to think about a fundamental question: “What is a book?” The intellectual depth of a society is proportional to the density of its culture. That density depends not only on how much people read, but also on the quality and direction of their thoughts. In other words, what determines the level of a society is not only a matter of “how much people read,” but also of “what they read, how they read it, and how the meanings they gain are organized.” In that process, bookstores play a vital role, for they are not only intermediaries between individuals, but also catalysts for collective intelligence. In this way, we held weekend seminars every week for two years to study the essence of books and to lay the groundwork for creating a village of bookstores; at the same time, we visited a wide range of bookstores across the country to prepare for what would become Gochang Book Village.

 

Values of Gochang Book Village

 

Gochang Book Village is a community built on living with books. Here, “books” are regarded as a kind of “paper pharmacy” - they should provide comfort and healing for those weighed down by stress. With this in mind, we set several guiding principles. First, all six bookstores cover only a single genre. This is because we aim for tightly defined shops where the booksellers can make clear, confident recommendations from their own curated selections. Also, Gochang Book Village adheres to ecological and humanistic principles in running the community. We shall always have dinner together in the evening and practice “study through conversation.”
Further operating principles are as follows. First, each bookstore must remain open for three years without closing or taking holidays. If a bookseller needs to take a break, another bookseller should cover their shop. Second, we make decisions together and never carry out anything that is not reached through complete consensus. We decided not to pursue any matter if even a single person objects, because even small conflicts of interest can harm the community. Third, bookstores must not become annexes to lodging businesses. Although residential places are built beside the shops and rented as guesthouses, they must serve as spaces for reading, not for excessive commercial expansion. To adhere to these principles, we prepared ourselves not to flee from poverty, as life in the countryside requires an acceptance of modesty and lack.

 

The bookstores and bookstore managers in Gochang Book Village

 

Each of us defined our bookstore concept by drawing on our own expertise and personal taste. We wanted to recommend books in the fields we knew best and, through them, help people discover new titles. In this way were born the philosophy bookstore “Tricycle (세발자전거),” the graphic novel bookstore “NO. 9,” the travel and lifestyle bookstore “Carpenter’s Bookshop (목수의 서점),” the bookstore specializing in Yun Dong-Ju’s poetry and independent publication “Chorong & Mugwort (초롱이와 쑥),” the environmental and ecological bookstore “Mangrove (맹그로브),” and the picture book store “Gorilla (고릴라).”

 

 

The philosophy bookstore “Tricycle” takes its name from the idea that, unlike a two-wheeled bicycle that must keep moving to stay upright, a tricycle allows one to ride leisurely and take in the scenery - a fitting image for a philosophy bookstore where one can think at an unhurried pace. Here, visitors can enjoy coffee while reading books and watching the sunset. “NO. 9” is a bookstore of graphic novels, which is referred to as “the ninth art.” It houses one of the finest collections of graphic novels in Korea, including out-of-print editions. The shop also features a bar where visitors can savor a glass of whisky. And, in one corner, the manager’s personal collection of figurines is on display. Meanwhile, the travel and lifestyle bookstore “Carpenter’s Bookshop” took several times longer to complete than the others, as the owner built it entirely by hand with the help of one friend, without any outside assistance. Its focus is lifestyle, DIY, gardening, and travel essays. The small woodworking studio beside the bookstore offers hands-on programs, such as “make your own bookshelf.”

 

 

“Chorong & Mugwort” specializes in the works of poet Yun Dong-Ju and independent publications, and supports the independent-publishing efforts of financially struggling writers. It chose to specialize in independent publications to champion imaginative and sensitively-written books that are not yet officially published. Meanwhile, the owner of the environmental and ecological bookstore “Mangrove” is a tree doctor, and her husband is a farmer. Accordingly, the store displays and sells books related to the environment, ecology, and farming. They also have a vegetable garden and run a “book-stay” program. The owner of the picture bookstore “Gorilla” is an avid admirer of Anthony Browne, from whose picture book Gorilla the store took its name. While working as a teacher, the owner of the bookstore realized that not only children, but also parents and adults had their own problems. Then, discovering that picture books could serve as an important medium for healing our inner selves, he eventually decided to open a picture book store.

 

Special places in Gochang Book Village

 

Gochang Book Village is situated on a level piece of land surrounded by gentle hills, consisting of six bookstores, plus a shared library and a cultural complex called “Re:Book (리북).” The used books housed in Re:Book are not just ordinary secondhand books. They include titles that are now out of print, as well as books that went unnoticed when first published but have since regained new meaning. For instance, Chungsa Publishing once released poetry collections that each contained an original art print by the author Oh Yoon. They were the so-called “art print poetry collection.” Those precious art prints are still included - one sheet per volume - in those poetry collections; you can imagine how rare they are. Moreover, some copies, now out of print and practically unobtainable, fetch prices upward of ten times their original cost.
Another charm of Re:Book’s collection lies in the traces and handwritten notes on the inside covers. Examples include messages such as, “Hey, it feels awkward, but I’m sending you a book. Live well,” and “Learning English or Chinese characters is less important than understanding the true confessions of history.” These are the tangible marks of countless stories and feelings exchanged when the books were given as gifts. They serve as personal memories and wrinkles of an era, evoking the lives of those who lived through those times. Beyond Re:Book, there is one more space: a community garden established on a 2,000-pyeong plot of leased land (about 6,600m²), with 400 pyeong of it (about 1,300m²) cultivated together. The rest of the land will be planted with seasonal flowers. From this garden, we source most of our vegetables - cucumbers, lettuce, chili peppers, eggplants, and more. We planted sweet potatoes and native varieties of potatoes this year, and we plan to grow cabbages and radishes in preparation for kimchi-making in the coming autumn. Under the lead of the owner of “Mangrove,” we plow the fields together, plant crops, and share the harvest. It is another joy and a source of vitality in our lives.

 

 

Future plans of Gochang Book Village

 

The village plans to add bookstores focusing on science and art. We also hope to see the establishment of new bookstores, those specialized in literary, genre fiction, and comfort reads, as well as writers’ residencies on the adjacent 2,000-pyeong site. Yet, the goal is not merely to increase the number of bookstores. What we truly dream of is connecting people through books that ask: “Shouldn’t tomorrow be a bit richer and better than today?” To realize this dream, we are striving to expand the culture of books not only within Gochang Book Village itself, but also throughout the wider Gochang region.
There are other book-related spaces in Gochang as well. The first is “Book Village Haeri (책마을해리).” When the school once donated by my grandfather was later closed, I bought it back and transformed it into various spaces such as “Tree House (트리하우스)” and “Forest of Books, Forest of Time (책숲시간의숲).” It has 300,000?400,000 books displayed, forming a literal forest of reading. While Gochang Book Village centers on small, tightly knit bookstores, “Book Village Haeri” uses the school grounds to host various programs for adolescents, such as writing and reading camps. The second is “Scenery With Books (책이있는풍경),” a complex where I, a literary critic, have long hosted large-scale book talks, book concerts, and lectures with various writers in buildings I have constructed one by one over many years. Together with them, we ponder how to further expand the culture of books in Gochang.
Ultimately, the vision of Gochang Book Village is a community of small yet resilient bookstores; a community that never gives up sharing evenings together; a community of sharing that preserves the sincerity of its beginnings; and a community where an ecological, sustainable lifestyle comes naturally. This is a life built through books. Such is our dream and way of life - humble but noble.

 

 

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Written by Lee Yoon-Ho (Chief of Gochang Book Village)