Bucheon is fast becoming the Mecca for comics in the country according to a white paper (1998-2001) by the Bucheon Comic Information Center released Friday, which noted that after the establishment of the information center in 1998 and the comic museum last year, the number of visitors have been steadily increasing every year.


Statistics show that the number of users of the Comic Information Center¡¯s library has increased from 13,818 in 2000 to 25,499 in 2001, and to 14,148 as of April this year, recording an almost 100% growth rate every year.


An official of the comic center said that, "With the vacation season upon us, there has been an average of 250-300 visitors to the comic study room per day." He added that Bucheon has become synonymous with comics with its many animation movie festivals every year, and sometimes people make the trek to Bucheon for the festivals from as far away as other provinces.


The number of books in the comic library is 74,325, the most of any such library in the country. Currently, 81% of the reading material has been digitalized on a database. The library has also been given a total of 13,703 books since it began its donation campaign last October.


The comic museum, which opened last October in Chuneui-dong, has an area of 495 pyeong, and the exhibition grounds 321 pyeong. A total of W850 million was invested for building incidental facilities such as the morgue, exhibition hall, 3D animation theater, reading room, and store.


The Comic Information Center said if it can finish its project of bringing in more reading material related to comics and preserve it and build a digitalized database by 2004, the center will become a significant establishment for the comic industry.


The reading room of the comic library is open from 10:00am to 6:00pm and there is no entrance fee. While the comic museum has the same hours as the library, primary school students must pay an admission of W1,500, middle and high school students W2,000, and the general public W3,000.
(Park Don-kyu, coeur@chosun.com)