National Library Board

The National Library Board (Abbreviation: NLB; Chinese: 国家图书馆管理局; pinyin: Guójiā Túshūguǎn Guǎnlǐjú; Malay: Lembaga Perpustakaan Negara; Tamil: தேசிய நூலக வாரியம் Tēciya nūlaka vāriyam) is a statutory board of the Ministry of Communications and Information, Singapore. Tasked to manage the public libraries and to lead them into the Information Age where non-print resources are making their mark, the NLB is aimed towards the creation of "borderless libraries," an initiative aimed at bringing the libraries closer to Singaporeans, and to connect Singaporeans with the outside world. NLB is a building block of Singapore's way towards knowledge society and smart nation.[1]

National Library Board
Logo of the NLB
Agency overview
Formed1 September 1995 (1995-09-01)
Preceding agency
  • National Library
JurisdictionGovernment of Singapore
Headquarters100 Victoria Street, #14-01, National Library Building, Singapore 188064
Annual budget$182 million SGD (2010)
Agency executives
  • Lee Seow Hiang, Chairman
  • Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive
Parent agencyMinistry of Communications and Information
Websitewww.nlb.gov.sg
National Library Building is the headquarters of the National Library Board.
Bishan Public Library
Jurong Regional Library

The National libraries of Singapore house books in all four official languages of Singapore: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Other than paper books, the libraries also loans CD-ROMs, DVD-ROMs, VCDs, video cassettes, audiobooks on CDs, magazines and periodicals, DVD-videos, Blu-rays and music CDs (the last two at the Esplanade outlet). Its flagship institution, the National Library, Singapore, has moved to its new premises at Victoria Street since 22 July 2005.

History

Although the NLB was formed on 1 September 1995 only, its history began way back in the 1820s when Sir Stamford Raffles, founder of modern Singapore, first proposed the idea of establishing a public library in the thriving colony. This library was to evolve into the National Library of Singapore in 1960, before expanding into the suburbs with the setting up of branch libraries in the various new towns.

Library 2000

In 1995, when the NLB took over the duties of the National Library of Singapore, it was also entrusted with bringing to reality the findings of the Library 2000 Review Committee, set up in June 1992 to review the public library system. This committee, headed by Dr Tan Chin Nam, considered the role of information technology in contemporary library services for the next decade, with the aims of

  1. Establishing Singapore as an international information hub;
  2. Preserving and promoting Singapore's literary heritage;
  3. Providing for education, knowledge and research;
  4. And promoting a well-read and well-informed society.

The committee also took into consideration the library needs of public library users in general, the linguistic needs of an increasingly bilingual populace, the catering to the needs of professions who require extensive information databases, and the establishment of the library as a nucleus of national culture and heritage. After a year-long review, the Committee published their findings on 5 March 1994, which calls for six "strategic thrusts", which are

  1. An Adaptive Public Library System
  2. A Network of Borderless Libraries
  3. A Coordinated National Collection Strategy
  4. Quality Service Through Market Orientation
  5. Symbiotic Linkages With Business And Community
  6. A Global Knowledge Arbitrage

In addition, the report also speaks of three "key enablers" to bring about these changes, which are

  1. the setting up of a new statutory board
  2. staff development, and the
  3. exploiting of new technology.

The NLB was thus formed as a result of this Report. The NLB implements initiatives arising from the Report's recommendations, to help Singapore stay competitive in the global knowledge economy and become "a more gracious society".[2]

Membership

Basic membership

For Singapore citizens, the registration for basic membership is free. It allows borrowers to loan up to 16 library materials for 21 days, at any one time. For permanent residents, there would be a one-time registration fee of S$10.50.

Partner membership

Partner membership is applicable only to PAssion Card holders. Basic library members with PAssion cards can also upgrade their membership accounts. Members can loan up to 24 library materials for 21 days, at any one time.

Membership for Foreigners

Foreigners are eligible to sign up for library membership in Singapore. It costs S$53.30, which includes a registration fee of S$10.50. It allows borrowers to loan up to 16 library materials for 21 days, at any one time.

Controversy

In July 2014, the NLB announced that it was pulping three children's books, And Tango Makes Three, The White Swan Express, and Who's In My Family?, following a user's complaint that the books' homosexual themes did not promote family values.[3] In protest, several poets and writers resigned from the Singapore Writers Festival and the Singapore Literature Prize, while several boycotted a panel discussion hosted by the NLB.[4] A petition was signed by 3,800 signatories to reinstate the books or relocate the books to a different section, while another petition supporting the NLB's decision was signed by 26,000.[5][6] A group supporting the reinstating of the affected books organised an event called "Let's Read Together" at the atrium of the National Library, where members of the public could bring books of any content to read along with a penguin stuffed toy, drawing 250 people on 13 July 2014.[7] Communications and Information Minister Yaacob Ibrahim later instructed the NLB to place And Tango Makes Three and The White Swan Express in the adult section instead of pulping them; Who's In My Family? had already been pulped.[8] The NLB also later announced that book selection and review processes would be refined.[9]

See also

References
  1. Dresel, R., Henkel, M., Scheibe, K., Zimmer, F., & Stock, W. G. (2020). A nationwide library system and its place in knowledge society and smart nation: The case of Singapore. Libri, 70(1), 81-94. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/libri-2019-0019
  2. "National Library to spend S$1 billion over 8 years", Koh Buck Song, The Straits Times, 4 July 1996.
  3. Tham, Thrina (11 July 2014). "Withdrawn NLB books to be pulped". Singapore Press Holdings. my Paper. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  4. Martin, Mayo (11 July 2014). "S'pore writers not happy over NLB controversy". Mediacorp. TODAY. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  5. Lee, Howard (10 July 2014). "Petition with 3,800 names demands that NLB reinstate books". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  6. "More than 26,000 signatures collected for open letter supporting NLB's ban of books". sg.news.yahoo.com.
  7. Lee, Pearl (13 July 2014). "250 gather outside National Library for reading event in response to NLB's removal of three books". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  8. Tan, Dawn Wei (18 July 2014). "NLB saga: Two removed children's books will go into adult section at library". Singapore Press Holdings. The Straits Times. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  9. Mohandas, Vimita; Grosse, Sara (4 August 2014). "NLB to finetune book selection, review processes: Yaacob". Channel News Asia. Channel News Asia. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
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