National Library Board

Last updated

National Library Board
Logo of the National Library Board (Singapore).svg
Agency overview
Formed1 September 1995;29 years ago (1995-09-01)
Preceding agency
  • National Library
Jurisdiction Singapore
Headquarters100 Victoria Street, #14-01, National Library Building, Singapore 188064
Annual budget S$182 million (2010)
Agency executives
  • Lee Seow Hiang, Chairman
  • Ng Cher Pong, Chief Executive
Parent agency Ministry of Digital Development and Information
Website www.nlb.gov.sg
Agency IDT08GB0037J
National Library Building is the headquarters of the National Library Board. National Library, Singapore.JPG
National Library Building is the headquarters of the National Library Board.
Bishan Public Library Bishan Library MG 9559 for wiki.jpg
Bishan Public Library
Jurong Regional Library Je-library.JPG
Jurong Regional Library

The National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Digital Development and Information of the government of Singapore. The board manages the public libraries throughout the country. [1]

Contents

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. Its flagship institution, the National Library, Singapore, is based on Victoria Street.

History

Although the NLB was first formed on 1 September 1995, its history had begun way back in the 1820s when Stamford Raffles first proposed the idea of establishing a public library. 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 throughout the country.

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 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. [2] The NLB implements initiatives arising from the Report's recommendations. [3]

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. [4] 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. [5]

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. [6] [7] 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. [8] 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. [9] The NLB also later announced that book selection and review processes would be refined. [10]

See also

Related Research Articles

Television in Singapore began on 15 February 1963. The public broadcaster, MediaCorp TV, has a monopoly on terrestrial television channels and is fully owned by government holding company Temasek Holdings. Local pay TV operators are StarHub TV and Singtel TV. The private ownership of satellite dishes was previously forbidden.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">LGBTQ history in Singapore</span>

There is a long history of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender activity in Singapore. Male homosexuality was outlawed under British rule, despite being acknowledged among the local population. Following Japanese occupation during World War II and the country gaining independence, homosexuality and transvestism were visible as a street scene, and from the 1970s were catered for in some nightclubs. In that decade also, Singapore became a centre of gender-reassignment surgery.

Singapore Polytechnic (SP) is a post-secondary education institution and statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Education in Singapore.

The following lists events that happened during 2002 in Singapore.

The following lists events that happened during 1998 in Singapore.

The following lists events that happened during 1997 in Singapore.

The following lists events that happened during 1991 in Singapore.

The following lists events that happened during 1990 in Singapore.

The following lists events that happened during 1979 in Singapore.

library@orchard Public library in Singapore

library@orchard is a public library under the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore.

Koh Buck Song is a Singaporean writer, poet, and country brand adviser. He is the author and editor of more than 40 books, including nine books of poetry and haiga art. He works as a writer, editor and consultant in branding, communications strategy and corporate social responsibility in Singapore. He has held several exhibitions as a Singaporean pioneer of haiga art, developed from a 16th-century Japanese art form combining ink sketches with haiku poems.

<i>And Tango Makes Three</i> 2005 childrens book by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson

And Tango Makes Three is a children's book written by Peter Parnell and Justin Richardson and illustrated by Henry Cole which was published in 2005. The book tells the story of two male penguins, Roy and Silo, who create a family together. With the help of the zookeeper, Mr. Gramsay, Roy and Silo are given an egg which they help hatch. The female chick, that completes their family, is consequently named "Tango" by the zookeepers. The book was based on the true story of Roy and Silo, two male chinstrap penguins who formed a pair bond in New York's Central Park Zoo.

Bedok Public Library is a public library under the National Library Board network. It is located at 11 Bedok North Street 1, #02-03 & #03-04, Heartbeat@Bedok, Singapore 469662. The library was officially re-opened by Dr. Yaacob Ibrahim, Minister for Communications and Information at its new Heartbeat@Bedok premises on 28 October 2017. It is among a suite of community services provided at the new integrated complex, Heartbeat@Bedok.

<i>Its So Amazing!</i> 1999 childrens book by Robie Harris

It's So Amazing! A Book about Eggs, Sperm, Birth, Babies, and Families is a 1999 children's book about pregnancy and childbirth. It is written by Robie Harris and illustrated by Michael Emberley.

The S.U.R.E. Campaign is an information literacy awareness campaign initiated by the National Library Board (NLB) of Singapore. In Singapore, the NLB drives the information literacy awareness for the nation.

The following lists events that happened during 2014 in the Republic of Singapore.

The National University of Singapore Muslim Society (NUSMS), which used to be called the University of Singapore Muslim Society (USMS) or Persatuan Mahasiswa Islam Universiti Singapura (PMIUS), was established in 1963 to provide a platform for students and staff to engage in activities that serve the Muslim community on campus. It is a student-run organisation registered with the Registry of Societies and is currently managed by the 54th Executive Committee (ExCo).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sengkang Public Library</span> Public library in Singapore

Sengkang Public Library is a public library owned by the National Library Board situated inside Compass One in Sengkang New Town, and it occupies levels 3 and 4. It is near Sengkang Bus Interchange and the Sengkang MRT/LRT station.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bukit Panjang Public Library</span> Public library in Singapore

Bukit Panjang Public Library is a public library in Bukit Panjang, Singapore. It is located inside Bukit Panjang Plaza and the nearest station to it is Bukit Panjang MRT/LRT station. It is also near the Bukit Panjang Bus Interchange. It is the fourth public library owned by the National Library Board to be located inside a mall.

Shubigi Rao is an Indian-born Singaporean contemporary artist and writer known for her long-term, multidisciplinary projects and installation works that often use books, etchings, drawings, video, and archives. Her interests include archaeology, libraries, neuroscience, histories and lies, literature and violence, and natural history. Rao has exhibited internationally, presenting work at the 59th Venice Biennale in 2022, 10th AsiaPacific Triennial in 2021, 10th Taipei Biennial in 2016, the 3rd Pune Biennale in 2017, the 2nd Singapore Biennale in 2008, as well as the 4th Kochi-Muziris Biennale in 2018.

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. ↑ Singapore. Library 2000 Review Committee (1994). Library 2000: Investing in a Learning Nation : Report of the Library 2000 Review Committee. SNP Publishers. ISBN   978-981-00-5507-3.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  3. ↑ "National Library to spend S$1 billion over 8 years", Koh Buck Song, The Straits Times, 4 July 1996.
  4. ↑ Tham, Thrina (11 July 2014). "Withdrawn NLB books to be pulped". Singapore Press Holdings. my Paper. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  5. ↑ Martin, Mayo (11 July 2014). "S'pore writers not happy over NLB controversy". Mediacorp. TODAY. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  6. ↑ Lee, Howard (10 July 2014). "Petition with 3,800 names demands that NLB reinstate books". The Online Citizen. Retrieved 20 November 2015.
  7. ↑ "More than 26,000 signatures collected for open letter supporting NLB's ban of books". sg.news.yahoo.com.
  8. ↑ Lee, Pearl (13 July 2014). "250 gather outside National Library for reading event in response to NLB's removal of three books". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  9. ↑ Tan, Dawn Wei (18 July 2014). "NLB saga: Two removed children's books will go into adult section at library". The Straits Times. Singapore Press Holdings. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
  10. ↑ Mohandas, Vimita; Grosse, Sara (4 August 2014). "NLB to finetune book selection, review processes: Yaacob". Channel NewsAsia. Archived from the original on 27 August 2014. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.