biblio asia outline.indd - National Library Singapore

A-Z - Guide to the newNational LibraryA spanking new tower bordered on three sides by busy roads, the NationalLibrary Board’s (NLB) new headquarters at Victoria Street looms large amidthe backpacker hostels, Housing Board blocks and the two-century-oldbuildings of North Bridge Road.Staring up its 16 floors of glass walls, bespectacled bookworms wouldbestumped - whither the scholarly dust, the bookish stuffiness?The slick, state-of-the-art facade of the headquarters is a sure sign that somechange is afoot at the National Library, a much-loved institution in a countrywhich has a literacy rate of 94 per cent.This bumper guide – including tips – will tell you what to look out for inthe new National Library.AtmosphereNix your images of stuffy librarieswhere absent-minded academicspore over small print. On all sevenstoreys of its reference library, thereis mood lighting which – get this– changes colour from red to greento blue to cyan and magenta – every15 minutes. Open-air gardensscattered all over the buildings arealso lit by romantic warm light. Butno hanky-panky, please.BlockbusterThis building has a $203 millionprice tag, including interior design.That is about a third of what itcost to build the $600 millionEsplanade.Command centreNo idle chit-chats around the watercooler at this new hub of knowledge.NLB’s head honchos have theiroffices on Level 14 of the building.Drama mamaYou will get more than just theatrescripts here as the National ArtsCouncil’s Drama Centre has movedhere from Fort Canning. OccupyingLevels 3 to 6 are a 614-seat theatre,a 120-seat black box and a longbar on Level 3. The theatre hasair-conditioning vents under everyseat. But worry not about havinga Marilyn Monroe Seven-Year Itchmoment – these vents produce avery gentle draft.EclecticThe library’s climate-controlledRare Materials Collection onLevel 13 is a showcase of antiques,housing its oldest publication,The History Of Trauayle In TheWest And East Indies, from 1577.There is also a letter written bySir Stamford Raffles in 1819.Readers must write to NLB toseek permission to view the rarematerials – and handle them gently,with gloved hands.FreebiesNLB organises free talks andprogrammes for the publicregularly. All in the name ofenticing bookworms to drop bymore often.GreenThere are 14 gardens in thisbuilding, where lush foliage coversa third of its total area. You cancurl up in one of its two huge Zengardens at Levels 5 and 10 and sinkyour teeth into that great read youjust borrowed. Everything here isso eco-friendly that the Building andConstruction Authority has awarded theNLB top green honours: the PlatinumAward for the Green Mark Scheme.HappeningIf you thought the slick andclassy library@esplanade andlibrary@orchard were hip, you havenot seen nothing yet. Swop literarygossip with a friend over coffee atHans cafe. Or just cool your heelswhile waiting for a poetry recital ormini-concert to begin at one of themany exhibition venues. Plus, thereis the gorgeous rooftop Pod, a glassbubble with a 360-degree view. Ona clear day, look southwards andyou will see Indonesia.IntergalacticWander about the massive, pristinewhitestructures at the events plazaon the ground floor and feel like anextra in a Star Wars installment. Afar cry, certainly, from its red-brickpredecessor at Stamford Roadwhich was, sadly, demolished lastMarch after 44 years.JumboSpace, space everywhere. Thisnew 58,000 sq m head-quarters isfive times the size of the old one atStamford Road, or the size of about600 four-room HDB flats.K-shapedIf you were flying by in a helicopter,you would see that this building isactually K-shaped from the top -thanks to two main blocks connectedby covered walkways. The largerlibrary block houses the Lee KongChian Reference Library. The curvedsecond block, which houses thegardens and commercial tenants,forms the arc of the ‘K’.Look-seeIf this guide has whetted your appetitefor more, surf www.nlb.gov.sg fora virtual preview of the buildingat Virtual Flythrough, created bySingapore Polytechnic students.My preciousDubbed NLB’s crown jewel, theseven-storey Lee Kong Chian ReferenceLibrary – spanning from Level 7 toLevel 13 - is a treasure trove of 500,000items ranging from country marketreports to ultra-rare books onMalayan flora from the 19th century.NostalgiaThe St Andrew’s Cross was literallyripped from the Stamford Road libraryentrance and recast in the new plazaon the side facing Victoria Street.O Captain, My CaptainAhoy! Sail the South Seas with China’sAdmiral Zheng He, the gallant Muslimmaritime hero, on the 600th anniversaryof his maiden voyage to theseparts. NLB’s Zheng He and MaritimeAsia Exhibition on Level 10 willshowcase his contributions toeconomy, religion and technologyin the region from August 2005 toFebruary 2006.PostersRemember those ‘Small Family,Happy Family’, ‘Be a GraciousSingaporean’ and anti-spittinggovernment posters of yore? Theseretro slogans are all on displayin its Singapore and South-eastAsian collections for you to betterunderstand public policy changesover the years (or just for a giggle).The collection includes politicalmanifestoes, videos of past politicalrallies and records of election results.Quiet alarmsOn top of the screaming ones, thatis. There are strobe-lighting fire alarmsfor readers who are deaf, thanks tothe input of seven focus groups whichsuggested that NLB should installthem. Vox populi rules – on this count.RecycleIn its basement nestled amidbamboo trees is a 5,000-brick wallbuilt from the remnants of the oldStamford Road library. Companiescan buy a piece of history bycommissioning sculptures fromother salvaged bricks. Those withcash to spare can also bag acommemorative bookmark and achunk of the Stamford Road HQ brickfor $10 each, which goes to charity.Click on www.comchest.org.sgSunscreenGiant intelligent window blindsscroll down automatically whenthe sun is low enough in the skyto sneak past the fixed shades,usually around 4.30pm. The building’slights also switch off automaticallywhenever there is enough daylightfor one to read without squinting.Triple joyTalk about a study to die for. AtLevel 11, there is a triple volumelibrary floor with a book wall almost6m high housing the Singapore andSouth-east Asian collections.UndergroundYou can now get your readingfix at the Central Lending Libraryin the basement, where 134,000books, ranging from the arts tobusiness management, are yoursfor the picking. Remember to checkout its collection of award-winningliterature in all four languages.VertigoStand at the Pod’s edge on Level 16and peer down a dizzying height of102.8m to road level. Aiiiee! Eventhe toilets have this killer view —they have glass walls so you canscan the horizon. But you will get todo so by invitation only.WiredCheck out NLB’s enlargedDigital Library at www.nlb.gov.sgfor digitised rare material.Coming soon: An expanded listof more than 70 online databases,such as the Bibliography of AsianStudies, Factiva and NLB-ownedSingapore Infopedia, which tellsyou all about the nation’s roots.Log on at the NLB’s computerterminals for 3 cents a minuteor bring your laptop and surfwirelessly for free.X-treme shelvingThere is a total of 15km ofbookshelves in this building, whichis roughly the length of the CentralExpressway (15.5km).YesteryearReading in Singapore goes back along way, if you go by the exhibitionof library heritage from the 1800s,From Books to Bytes, on Level 5.ZephyrHang on to your hats - its groundfloor plaza is designed to be awind trap, channelling air betweenthe building’s two blocks so that itis replete with zephyrs, or gentlebreezes.Adapted from The Straits Times,July 2, 200506 07