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CDNLAO


CDNLAO Newsletter

No. 99, February 2022

Special topic: Library services for children and young adults

The Little Book Box

By Joanne Koh, Manager and Lee Yee Fuang, Senior Manager, National Library Board, Singapore


< The Little Book Box >

The National Library Board (NLB) launched a pilot delivery subscription service, The Little Book Box, in October 2020. The service was borne out of the popularity of delivery services in Singapore and busy lifestyles of parents, particularly during COVID-19, where demand for delivery services increased sharply. To help with the operating costs, the subscription service charges a nominal fee to the subscribers to receive a monthly selection of eight English children's books, which include a variety of fiction and non-fiction books. The books span a broad range of children's interests and are suitable for two age groups – from 4 to 6 years old and 7 to 9 years old.

With a collection specially curated by librarians for this pilot service, the subscription could cater to 1,000 subscribers on a first-come, first-serve basis. By subscribing to The Little Book Box, families would also enjoy a greater variety of reads with the books delivered in addition to their library membership loan quota.

The minimum subscription period spans three months and the loan duration for books under this service is 21 days (excluding delivery time). Subscribers could return the books at any of our 26 public libraries island-wide.

The Little Book Box has brought great convenience and accessibility for parents to get a variety of books for their children. This also boosts the children's love for reading and their thirst for knowledge and information. Since the start of the roll-out, the pilot service has an average of 1,000 subscribers and also garnered favourable response and positive feedback. Here's what our library patrons have to say about the service:

"I'd really like to send my gratitude to the librarian curating our books. While everything about the programme has been a wonderful experience so far, by far what I appreciate most is how age appropriate the book selection has been. Fiction books were spot on at shedding light and widening horizons on topics that are large in my child's life right now such as tantrums, learning to deal with emotions, social awareness, service to the community, etc., and non-fiction books were also spot on covering subjects my child is currently interested in. I am really shocked at just how much of a bull's eye all the books we receive are, they have helped my child grow in so many areas that this is a programme I would happily recommend to all parents."
"We are enjoying it! The subscription has exceeded my expectations - in terms of range of books with topics and interests, as well as the delivery lead time (punctual and next day delivery after email sent) and personnel service and attitude (very polite). Please keep up the good work!"
"I personally like this but friends think library books should be free! Well I guess I am paying for the service of an expert curating the books for me and delivering them! Thank you."

NLB will continue to innovate to provide convenient last-mile services to our library patrons.

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