The Grand People's Study House is North Korea's national library. It stands on Kim Il Sung Square beside the Taedong River, opposite the Juche Tower. The infobox credits Kim Jong Il as architect, and the text says it resembles a traditional Korean house at his insistence. Built over 21 months, it opened on April 1, 1982. The infobox gives the style as neo-traditional Korean.
The building has 10 storeys, 600 rooms and about 1,100,000 square feet (100,000 m²) of floor space. Green traditional roof tiles top it, and portraits of Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il hang outside and in each room. North Korean sources claim room for 30 million books.
Materials are held by staff. Visitors search catalogs and request items, and the library offers lectures and language courses. The earlier library on the site was destroyed in the Korean War and reopened in 1954.
Comments