National Library of Singapore Reopens in July with new Lee Kong Chian Reference Library By Ang Seow Leng*

Since its inception in the 1830s, the National Library of Singapore has evolved from being a subscription library to a national library and survived the ravages of the Japanese Occupation. Only in 1960, did it have a place of its own and was known as the National Library of Singapore, performing a unique dual role as a national library as well as a public library. It went through a series of organizational changes, particularly its reference and services arm – from the Reference Services Division to the National Reference Library in 1997.

In July this year, the National Library reopens to the public. It will house the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library, named in honour of the late Dr Lee Kong Chian, founder of the Lee Foundation, which gave a S$60 million donation towards the library. This is the second donation from the late Dr Lee who in 1953, made a donation of S$375,000 towards the building of the old National Library at its former premises in Stamford Road. 

Located in Victoria Street, the heart of Singapore's arts, culture, learning and entertainment hub, the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library occupies 7 out of 16-storeys of the new National Library building.  It is home to over 500,000 reference items, of which 90% are available as open-access materials.  Functioning as the National Library, the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library aims to become the premier stop for research needs on Singapore and Asia. 

The core collection of the reference library is the Singapore and Southeast Asian materials. Comprising over 170,000 items, it covers monographs, serials, microfilms, maps, audio-visuals, and ephemera.  The history of some of the materials in the collection dates back to the founding years in the 1800s - much of these titles have now become part of the library's Rare Materials collection. Valuable titles donated from prominent personalities and organizations, as well as gifts and exchange arrangements with education and cultural institutions from around the world have contributed significantly towards the development of its collections over the years.  Some of the library's treasured collections include the generous donations from Mr Tan Yeok Seong, whose Ya Yin Kwan Collection has a rich resource on the history of Chinese influence in Southeast Asia; and Mrs Loke Yew, mother of Dato Loke Wan Tho, who acquired and donated Dr Carl Alexander Gibson-Hill's collection of titles on history, art, archaeology, zoology and ornithology to the library.

The priority is in collecting materials related to Singapore, followed by materials related to the other Southeast Asian countries: Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, East Timor, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Publications on Singapore and Malaysia form the core of the collection with a significant coverage on the other Southeast Asian countries. The subject coverage includes: anthropology and religion, "adat" and constitutional law, linguistics, arts, business, social sciences and humanities, science and technology, as well as fiction titles and research materials on Asian children literature. These library materials are in the four official languages of Singapore, namely, English, Chinese, Malay and Tamil. Due to the earlier colonial times and interest of some of the European countries in the region, and the Japanese occupation period, there are also a small number in the European languages like Dutch, and French and in Japanese. They form a valuable source of materials for historical research, particularly for the 19th and 20th century. Among its prized possessions are the lithographed editions of the Hikayat Abdullah (Singapore: Mission Press, 1849) and the Journal of the Indian Archipelago and Eastern Asia edited by J R Logan (Singapore: J.R. Logan, 1847-1855). Such publications provide valuable information on the life and times of this region in the past centuries.

The Singapore and Southeast Asian materials at the Lee Kong Chian Library complement similar collections available at the National University of Singapore Library and the Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Library.  The National University of Singapore Library has a rich historical collection on Singapore and Malaysia including its special collection of dissertations and research papers done by postgraduate and graduate students. The Institute of Southeast Asian Studies Library, which was formed in 1968, on the other hand, has collections that are more contemporary in nature and focus on the area of applied social sciences. However, the collections of these libraries are only accessible to their students and researchers.

As the national reference library, the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library aims to maintain a good mix of collections for research as well as for general reading that are accessible by members of the public. A team of professional librarians whose core duty is to manage the selection of materials for the National Library Board libraries is responsible for selecting materials for the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library. The selection is based on the information needs of the library's users, suggestions and feedback by the researchers it serves, as well as requirements of the librarians. 

With the onslaught of the digital age, many established practices for collection development have been revised. To keep up with the changes, the library's collection development policy is constantly being fine-tuned. The library has digitized rare materials and invited Singaporean writers to deposit their works digitally in its website known as the Singapore Pages. Librarians have also made available resource guides, pathfinders, bibliographies and researched documents in this website for users to access the collections.

Establishing networks and links with other libraries is also critical for the library to remain relevant in its collection development. Professional staff have been sent on overseas study trips to understand the practices of libraries in terms of managing heritage and Southeast Asian collection. There are also interactions with local librarians from the academic and research libraries to share ideas.

Lastly, the legal deposit provisions in the National Library Board Act (1995) play a critical role in ensuring that all locally published materials on and about Singapore continues to be collected and preserved. The Act sanctions the types of materials that must be deposited with the National Library Board. These will become the future treasures of the Lee Kong Chian Reference Library.