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The Big Read in short: How Singapore's public libraries survived the digital onslaught

SINGAPORE — At the Queenstown Public Library, Mrs Diane Tan watched on as her 22-month-old daughter pulled book after book out of its mahogany shelves, flipping through the pages enthusiastically. 

While public libraries in some countries are facing dwindling visitorship, funding cuts and copyrights tussles amid the digitalisation wave, those in Singapore have escaped the same fate.

While public libraries in some countries are facing dwindling visitorship, funding cuts and copyrights tussles amid the digitalisation wave, those in Singapore have escaped the same fate.

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Each week, TODAY’s long-running Big Read series delves into the trends and issues that matter. This week, we look at how Singapore's public libraries have evolved amid the digitalisation wave, bucking the trend of falling visitorship and closures seen in some other countries. This is a shortened version of the full feature, which can be found here.

  • While public libraries in some countries are facing dwindling visitorship, funding cuts and copyrights tussles amid the digitalisation wave, those in Singapore have escaped the same fate
  • On the contrary, public libraries here are seeing increased number of visitors and plans are afoot to continuously rejuvenate and expand existing libraries; the five-storey Punggol Regional Library also opened its doors in April 2023 
  • According to users whom TODAY spoke to, libraries here have managed to adapt to their users' evolving needs
  • Apart from shifting their services online, libraries have also redesigned their physical spaces to go beyond being mainly repositories of books
  • Such moves — including opening a new Children's Biodiversity Library in January next year — are also seen as important to attract young users and cultivate a love for reading and learning 

SINGAPORE — At the Queenstown Public Library, Mrs Diane Tan watched on as her 22-month-old daughter pulled book after book out of its mahogany shelves, flipping through the pages enthusiastically.

The unassuming two-storey establishment along Margaret Drive, with its pearl-grey exterior lined with bowtie motifs, is Singapore’s first-ever neighbourhood library and turns 53 in April next year.

The building might not appear to be a place a child would pine for, but on the rare days when it is closed —the library is open seven days a week except on public holidays — Mrs Tan said it is as if her daughter’s “favourite toy has been taken away”.

Even in a digital world where information is readily accessible at one’s fingertips at any given moment, the public library does not seem to have lost its relevance to Singaporeans both young and old.

In addition to the National Archives of Singapore, the National Library Board (NLB) currently manages a network of 28 libraries — including the five-Storey Punggol Regional Library, the newest library which opened in April this year.

The NLB also announced last month that the Bukit Batok Public Library will double in size as part of the board’s ongoing efforts to systematically rejuvenate existing libraries, with the Queenstown Public Library also slated for a revamp in the near future.

The NLB said in a media release on Nov 17 that as of August, 78 per cent of Singapore residents visited NLB’s libraries and archives and accessed its content in the preceding year.

This was up from 61.7 per cent in 2022, and 72.5 per cent in 2019 before Covid-19 struck.

In response to TODAY’s queries on public libraries' visitorship, the NLB said that that it saw a total of 16.5 million visits in 2022 across its network of libraries, the National Archives of Singapore building at Canning Rise and the Former Ford Factory — an increase of 43.5 per cent, or 5 million, from 2021.

The Former Ford Factory along Upper Bukit Timah Road is managed by the National Archives of Singapore and houses a permanent World War II exhibition.

On whether the total space occupied by public libraries in Singapore has changed over the years, the NLB did not provide figures.

NLB said that that it saw a total of 16.5 million visits in 2022 across its network of libraries, the National Archives of Singapore building at Canning Rise and the Former Ford Factory — an increase of 43.5 per cent, or 5 million, from 2021.

WHY IT MATTERS

The overall picture in Singapore stands in stark contrast to some other countries which are struggling to get citizens to visit their public libraries, resulting in a substantial number of closures.

According to the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy in the United Kingdom, the number of in-person visits to libraries across England, Wales and Scotland dropped sharply from 335 million in 2005 to 215 million in 2020.

There, more than 780 libraries have been closed since 2010.

The situation in the United States paints a similarly gloomy picture. From 2010 to 2018, US public library building usage had fallen 31 per cent, based on a report in 2021 which analyses the performance and funding of public libraries in the US, the UK and Australia.

Singapore's libraries have escaped the same fate by managing to adapt to their users' evolving needs amid the digitalisation wave, according to users whom TODAY spoke to.

THE BIG PICTURE

A Forbes article in 2012 written by a contributor painted a gloomy picture regarding the future of libraries and ended with the author’s prediction that library visiting would in “five to 15 years” become a thing of the past. 

The crux of its argument is the idea that reading habits would shift primarily to the use of a digital tool — and once people get comfortable reading on smart devices, no one would see the point of going to the library. 

A decade later, a 2021 national survey in the US found that only seven per cent of Americans visit libraries weekly, with six in 10 reporting they seldom or never visit their local public library.

There, libraries have also recently been embroiled in a slew of disputes pertaining to funding cuts, censorship and copyright issues.

In New York City, there are plans to close city libraries on Sundays and reduce city funding for libraries from US$36.2 million (S$48.5 million) a year to $12.6 million in 2024.

Earlier this year, the US-based non-profit Internet Archive — which provides free universal access to books, movies and music — lost a lawsuit to four large corporate publishers which sued it for scanning and lending digital copies of copyrighted books without compensation or permission.

The NLB told TODAY that it has copyright policies in place that outline the use of copyrighted materials in its collections and services, and that it works closely with copyright owners and licensing agencies to obtain the necessary permissions and licenses.

While physical libraries still exist in the UK, the rise in digital information consumption habits (the global online audience typically accesses the internet for 6.21 hours daily) and the Covid-19 pandemic have led to an increase in e-book borrowing in the country, growing by 18 per cent from March 2020 to 2021.

Libraries in the UK have also been facing government funding cuts, with figures released by the UK's Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy indicating that in 2021/22, £9,982 (S$16,700) was spent per 1,000 people on libraries by central and local governments in England, Scotland and Wales, down from £12,646 in 2018/19.

Punggol Regional Library on Nov 22, 2023. The overall picture in Singapore stands in stark contrast to some other countries which are struggling to get citizens to visit their public libraries, resulting in a substantial number of closures.

THE BOTTOM LINE

The role of public libraries here has evolved beyond being mainly repositories of books.

Indeed, Singapore's libraries of today look nothing like they did in decades past.

On the fourth floor of the new Punggol Regional Library for example, there is a dedicated space for library users to try their hand at fabrication technologies such as 3D printing and robotics, under an initiative called MakeIT at Libraries.

There are also wheelchair ramps to enter meeting booths, printing stations with high contrast large-key keyboards and even private spaces known as “calm pods” for patrons to self-soothe.

According to NLB, these features were put in place to fulfil part of the role it sees itself playing as an “equaliser” to society, where everyone feels welcome within its spaces.

Come Jan 12 next year, there will also be a new Children’s Biodiversity Library by S.E.A. Aquarium that will be housed within the Central Public Library after it reopens.

The children’s library will have an “Open Ocean Zone” featuring specimens such as shark jaws and coral skeletons, a floor-to-ceiling column with coral-like features and a live feed projection of a jellyfish habitat housed in the S.E.A. Aquarium.

There will also be regular programmes for children to meet divers and aquarists, as well as opportunities to participate in intertidal animal art, storytelling and upcycling workshops. 

Such moves are seen as important to attract young users and cultivate a love for reading and learning.

The NLB has ramped up the number of programmes for young children in recent years.

It introduced the “Babies Can Be Members Too!” programme in 2016 to encourage bonding between parent and child through reading from an early age. Under the programme, parents can register their babies as library members and receive a gift pack comprising children’s books.Then in 2020, the NLB launched “The Little Book Box”, a monthly subscription service in which eight curated books for children would be delivered to one’s home at a fee of S$10.80 a month. Since its launch in November 2020, the service has delivered more than 300,000 children’s books.

An interactive space for children at the Punggol Regional Library, on Nov 22, 2023. While many libraries overseas are struggling to survive, those interviewed by TODAY believe that the public libraries in Singapore would continue to have an important place in society — with advancements in technology helping the libraries to adapt to the new needs of users.

But perhaps its most ambitious and successful initiative geared towards children is “Book Bugs”, a bug-themed collectible card game to encourage reading in both English and Mother Tongue languages.

Children can borrow any library item or complete monthly quizzes to earn points, which can then be exchanged for collectible cards featuring unique bug characters — each with its own personality trait and lore inspired by books in Singapore’s national languages.

Since its inception in 2016, Book Bugs has been through four iterations, the latest of which in 2022 saw over 90,000 unique patrons redeem more than 2 million Book Bugs cards at public libraries. This contributed to over 10 million English and Mother Tongue book loans, the NLB said, adding that it would embark on its fifth iteration due to popular demand.

While many libraries overseas are struggling to survive, those interviewed by TODAY believe that the public libraries in Singapore would continue to have an important place in society — with advancements in technology helping the libraries to adapt to the new needs of users.

To this end, the NLB has looked to digital technologies such as Augmented Reality (AR) to help bring stories and experiences to life. For example, there is an AR Learning Trail at the Choa Chu Kang Public Library. 

Last week, the NLB announced that it would pilot three tech prototypes, two of which would use generative AI. These are: 

  • ChatBook — A generative AI-powered chat service where users can have a conversation with books, by providing responses based on the content ingested. Through ChatBook, users can engage or even “debate” with books in an interactive manner and will also be prompted to either buy or borrow the books, or delve deeper into NLB’s online resources. 
     
  • Glue — A live visualiser that presents a dynamic composite of Singapore, past and present, through photographs, captions and bite-sized content from individuals and institutional sources.
     
  • StoryGen — This provides an immersive experience that uses generative AI to transform stories in text form into a visual and multimedia experience. Users can exercise their creativity to present well-loved stories in their own ways.

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