Beyond Tools to Transformation

Abstract

Bugae Children Library, a maker-specialized children's library in Incheon, Korea, has explored how evolving digital tools transform library users — not just library services. This poster presents a three-phase model developed over eight years, tracing the path from physical making to digital world to human touch.

In Phase 1, children used 3D pens to archive local heritage and record the future of a town awaiting urban regeneration, building community identity. In Phase 2, a self-grown maker club rebuilt the town inside Roblox, inviting neighbors into the digital world and creating social connection across generations. In Phase 3, children wrote poems, questioned AI to illustrate picture books, and exhibited collage artworks in a VR gallery — discovering self-reflection by asking what only humans can create.

Across the three phases, a clear direction emerged: value moved from the community outside, to the connections between people, and finally into the human mind. As the tools grew more advanced, the touch grew deeper. Users evolved from recorders to designers to creators. In the age of high technology, high touch is not a luxury but a necessity.