Malacca Book Village (Malay:Kampung Buku Malaysia Melaka;Chinese:马六甲书村) was officially launched by the Rt. Hon. Datuk Seri Hj. Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam, Chief Minister of Malacca, on 17 April 2007. Currently, it is the only book village in operation in Malaysia. It is the fifth book village in Asia and the 33rd in the world to be established. As a member of the International Organisation of Book Towns (IOB) and the Book Town Movement, it adopts the concept of traditional book towns and villages found around the world like in Berlin, Norway and Wales but with local adaptations. There are approximately 15,000 books in the book village that are available for reading, reference and purchase which are supplied by eight resident publishers with additional support from the Malaccan state government. In addition, the book village aims to carve a niche for itself as a reference and resource centre for books and reading materials concerning the State of Malacca. This also includes books written by writers originating from Malacca. These books are housed and displayed in a special section named “Anjung Karyawan Melaka” and they cover topics on history, tourism, culture, fiction and biographies.
Malacca Book Village is currently managed by Hang Tuah Jaya Corporation which is a wholly owned state corporation.
Anjung Karyawan Melaka (loosely translated as “Malacca Literature Corner”) was officially launched by the Rt. Hon. Datuk Seri Hj. Mohd Ali bin Mohd Rustam, Chief Minister of Malacca on 25 July 2010. Located on the ground floor of Malacca Book Village, it was an idea mooted by the Chief Minister with the following objectives:
• To promote the culture of reading especially among families, children and young adults. • To promote interest and awareness of Malacca including its history, development, people and opportunities.
Currently, the collection has more than 200 books and is constantly expanding. Its range covers fiction, biographies, poems, history of Malacca, travel guides and tourism, culture and other genres. Many of the books were donated by publishers, government agencies and writers as they share the vision and objective of the Anjung Karyawan Melaka. The members of the public and visitors are also encouraged to donate suitable books and all donated books will be inscribed with the name of the donor and the date of donation.