National Library Board
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The National Library Board (Abbreviation: NLB; Chinese: 国家图书馆管理局; Malay: Jabatan Perpustakaan Kebangsaan) is a statutory board of the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts, 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 decided to aim towards the creation of "borderless libraries," an initiative aimed at bringing the libraries closer to Singaporeans, and to connect Singaporeans with the outside world. The National libraries of Singapore house books in all four official languages of Singapore: English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Its flagship institution, the National Library, Singapore, has recently moved to its new premises at Victoria Street on 22 July 2005.
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[edit] History
Although the NLB was formed only on 1 September 1995, its history began way back in the 1920s 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.
[edit] 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 Mr Tan Chin Nam, considered the role of information technology in contemporary library services for the next decade, with the aims of
- Establishing Singapore as an international information hub;
- Preserving and promoting Singapore's literary heritage;
- Providing for education, knowledge and research;
- 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 populance, 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
- An Adaptive Public Library System
- A Network of Borderless Libraries
- A Coordinated National Collection Strategy
- Quality Service Through Market Orientation
- Symbiotic Linkages With Business And Community
- A Global Knowledge Arbitrage
In addition, the report also speaks of three "key enablers" to bring about these changes, which are
- the setting up of a new statutory board
- staff development, and the
- exploiting of new technology.
The NLB was thus formed as a result of this report.
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