Preparing for a New Decade of Knowledge and Learning National Library Board, Singapore

2005 promises to be a landmark year for the National Reference Library in Singapore. After vacating its historic site at Stamford Road last year and operating out of the Jurong Regional Library premises for more than nine months, the National Reference Library is making a big comeback with the opening of the new National Library building later this year. 

The reference library will occupy seven of the new building's sixteen floors. Renamed the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, the reference library will be a key provider of Asian collections and reference services.

The library's new name embodies the people's relentless pursuit for a better life for themselves and their communities. In 1953, philanthropist Dr Lee Kong Chian spearheaded free library public services in Singapore with a donation of S$375,000 to build the National Library at Stamford Road. 

In 2003, the Lee Foundation once again donated S$60 million towards the development of the new National Library. It is the vision and belief that knowledge and education can create a better and more enriching life for people that continues to make the library a powerful symbol of Singapore's rich heritage and culture. 

With a new home located at Victoria Street within the cultural center of Singapore, the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library will be an important center of Singapore's heritage, information on South East Asian and Asia. Some of its key collections are the Singapore and South East Asia collection, Donors' collection, Rare Materials collection, Arts collection, Business collection, Asian Children's collection, and the Chinese, Malay and Tamil language collection. 

Here are brief overviews of some of these collections.

The Singapore and S.E.A Collection will focus on arts, social-economic history and complement other heritage agencies.  It will showcase a range of content and other electronic materials on Singapore and South East Asian heritage including ephemera, Singapore history and other cultural nuggets relevant to local history.

The Donors' Collections will house private collections of key local personalities such as Tan Yeok Seong and Tan Swie Hian. These collections will not only provide valuable sources of information on Singapore's history, social and cultural heritage but also give insights into the lives of the donors. 

The Rare Materials Collection contains extremely valuable materials on Singapore, many of which are considered "national treasures" and no longer in print. It includes the earliest books published in Singapore, first editions of our local papers, almanacs and scholarly journals. The oldest, "The history of Trauayle in the West and East Indies, and other countrey's lying eyher way, towards the fruitful and ryche Moluccaes" was published in 1577.

The Asian Children's Collection was started at a time when children's literature was predominantly of British/American origin.  It comprises picture books and children's fiction and non-fiction as well as reference materials related to children's literature. Geographically, it encompasses the region stretching from Middle East to Central Asia, Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Papua New Guinea and Indonesia. The aim of establishing this collection of works written for children pertaining to Asia and its people was to present the concept and raise the awareness and understanding of Asia-centric children's literature compared to that of Anglo Saxon's Literature.  Since its inception in the early 1960's, the collection has with time evolved into a unique resource for research relating to Asian children's literature. This collection covers literary materials for children up to 13 years of age in Singapore's four official languages -- English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil.

The Chinese, Malay and Tamil Collection is being developed as a centre of excellence for research on Chinese, Malay and Indian studies, as well as meeting the needs of Singaporeans seeking reference materials in Chinese, Malay and Tamil languages. The aim is to develop this library into a comprehensive reference and research library for public administrators, scholars, businessmen and the general public from Singapore and the region.

As the manner of knowledge acquisition evolves, so does the reference library. Besides encouraging learning through knowledge found in collections, the reference library also supports learning through programmes and exhibitions. A suite of activities have been planned to engage all types of learners. The young, old, generalist and specialist can participate in the learning process in both passively through reading and browsing, or actively by participating in group discussions and workshops. The programmes and exhibitions will help library users discover different cultures, subjects and interests whether independently or together. 

Guided by the librarians, library users will also discover and understand how to use the reference library's extensive collection and services to their advantage. Some of the key reference services will include Onsite Research Services, Reference Point, Document Delivery Service, and Digital Services. Here are descriptions of some of these key services.

Onsite Research Services
The Lee Kong Chian Reference Library will provide advisory services for research assignments, business ventures and personal interest. Reference librarians with subject knowledge advise users on the searching of materials for their research and guide users to relevant and useful resources available at the reference library, community libraries and other locations.

Reference Point
Besides the on-site reference service, reference and information services are offered remotely through the Reference Point (reference service through the telephone and e-mail). These remote services are available through NLB digital channels as well as other government and net communities as part of the value-added services. In the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, such services will also be made available through the various information kiosks located throughout the building.

Digital Services 
An increasing amount of e-content, whether digitised from our local collections or acquired from our partners and commercial providers, will be made available through the digital library portal. This will allow borderless access to the rich collections of the National Library Board and its partners. 

As the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library heralds in a new era of knowledge and learning with a new image, its basic principles remain unchanged. Central to its belief is its ability to acquire, organize and make accessible knowledge to everyman in order to ignite their imagination and allow them to experience new possibilities. More importantly, it will build a network of knowledge assets and advance the intellectual heritage of Singapore and South East Asia. The Lee Kong Chian Reference Library remains very much a library by the people, for the people.