hankyoreh

By Lee Kyung-mi and Choi Yu-bin, staff reporter

Paik Sae-rim, 23 and a student at Korea University, went to a coffee shop near her campus rather than the school library. She ordered a 3500 won (about US$3) coffee on the first floor and took it to the second floor where one-person tables are available. She began her studies there.

There were 10 students studying on the second floor besides Paik. No one asked them to be quiet, but they talked very quietly to each other. The music in this coffee shop is barely audible. Paik said that she likes studying here because the library or the school facilities are too confining.

There are study room-style coffee shops that have opened near universities. Because there are more students that prefer to study in coffee shops, this half coffee shop half library or study room are becoming more popular.

According to realtors and coffee shop owners around Korea University, of the 12 coffee shops that opened in the last two years, six of them have this format. Lee Ji-hae, a study room coffee shop owner said, “We cannot make money if it is not like this.”

There are more and more of these study room coffee shops appearing in university areas like Shinchon where Yonsei and Ewha Universities are, Haehwa-dong near Sungkyunkwan University, and Sillim neighborhood near Seoul National University.

One student said that he preferred studying in coffee shops over libraries because “Most libraries are occupied by people who are studying for civil service exams or medical or dental school. It is more stressful to be among them.” Another university student said “I feel more comfortable studying in the cafe than in the stuffy libraries.

There are libraries that are following this trend, such as Sungkyunkwan University, remodeled its library last spring by adding a coffee shop. The third floor looks more like a book cafe, according to the students. Korea University is also considering building a cafe-like library or opening a coffee shop inside the library.

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