CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — Between the novel on Genghis Khan and the latest dystopian adventure bestseller, a librarian watches as children laugh loudly, sing, and occasionally break out into dance. But you won’t hear anyone utter a single “shhhh.” That’s because the children are taking part in “Fun Music Friday,” a weekly event at the library on U.S. Army Garrison Humphreys - and one of many events that draw visitors to it’s stacks of books each week making it the second most-used library in the Army.
“Humphreys library has many programs planned through the creativity of it’s staff,” said Chang, Chi Hun, who is the supervisory library technician at the Sgt. 1st Class Ray E. Duke Memorial Library on Humphreys. “There are two weekly programs, five monthly programs and two quarterly programs. Besides that, we have one adult monthly program that will be added in 2024.”
All programs are planned, and practices, by library staff weeks and sometimes months in advance. Using feedback from patrons, programs are upgraded or added as needed. However, while programs are bringing people in, Humphreys patrons are taking home a higher-than-average amount of items.
“Humphreys library recorded the second-highest check-out number among a total of 63 Army libraries,” said Chang. “The first library with the highest check-out number was Camp Liberty library. Although the number of customers was three times higher than that of Humphreys library, the check-out number was only about 10 percent different.”
Chang says updates to the library were instrumental to their success. In 2018 the library moved into it’s current building. During that time all old or deteriorating library materials were removed and new items were added, which Chang said allowed them to be among the best libraries in the Army.
“In addition, we strive to keep our library materials updated to meet the needs of library patrons,” said Chang. Approximately 10 thousand new library materials were added to the Humphreys library during 2023.”
This upgrade came after the last traces of the COVID19 pandemic. During that time the library continued to operate and was even able to maintain their Summer Reading Program, achieving the largest number of participants when compared to other Army libraries.
“We love it here - we’ve always loved libraries, but this one especially is very child friendly,” said Karen Swanson, a military spouse who visits the library weekly with her children. “Everyone is super friendly here and it’s the friendliness and the programs that they do that make everything nice.”
In addition to books, library patrons are also able to check out video games, audio books, DVDs and Blu-Ray discs. The library also provides spaces for groups to meet, 57 commercial computers, and a print service. Regular programs include Lego club, chess club, Korean language classes, youth and adult book clubs, and various science, technology, engineering, arts and mathematics (STEAM) events.
For up-to-date information on the library and it’s activities, visit:
https://humphreys.armymwr.com/programs/duke-memorial-library
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