NLB launches prototype mobile library service to offer a taste of what its libraries can offer to underserved groups. Public will be able to sample the library experience with targeted collections of over 3,000 books, electronic transaction facilities and library programmes.
SINGAPORE, 3 April 2008 – The National Library Board (NLB) today launched a prototype mobile library service that brings the library experience to the underserved to encourage them to become active users of the public libraries. The prototype mobile library comes in the form of a bus named "Molly, the Mobile Library". Institutions and organisations such as children’s homes, orphanages, special education schools and selected primary schools are some of the places Molly will visit to promote reading and lifelong learning.
"With the support of our partners, The Enterprise Challenge, SBS Transit Ltd, NEC Asia Pte Ltd, Advance Interactive Technologies Pte Ltd and Wavex Technologies Pte Ltd, we hope that Singaporeans who have so far been unable to use our public libraries will now be able to develop a passion for reading through Molly," said Dr N. Varaprasad, Chief Executive, National Library Board.
The service reaches out to underserved groups with over 3,000 customised books during each visit, based on the user profile of the target audience at the destination. While onboard, patrons can perform electronic transactions such as the borrowing of books, checking of personal loan information and payment of fees and charges via Ez-link. Where space is available on-site, a variety of programmes typically offered at public libraries will also be included in Molly’s visit to allow patrons to sample the library experience. These could consist of activity-based workshops such as art workshops and/or performance and edu-tainment such as magic shows and music performances.
In the sixties, mobile library services were introduced to help ease the overwhelming demand for the services at the main building in Stamford Road. Now, Molly, the Mobile Library, returns to deliver library books, facilities and programmes to entice potential users and attract underserved groups NLB’s network of 22 public libraries around the island for their lifelong learning needs.
Institutions or organisations interested for Molly to visit them can email their request to NLB at helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg.
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巴士变成图书馆 Molly带来读书乐
图书馆能移动，你相信吗？
能够容纳20人的流动图书馆Molly今天早上在维文医生的见证下，在新光学校（Pathlight School）举行了揭幕仪式。
新光学校是Molly停留的第一站，学生们看到Molly都非常兴奋。
Molly的名字取自“Mobile Library”，它的前身是一辆新捷运巴士。从构思、改装到目前的试验阶段，国家图书馆（NLB）花了整整3年时间。
国家图书馆总经理林国英表示，创办Molly的主要目的，是为了方便那些居住在远离现有图书馆的民众。除此之外，Molly主要的服务对象还包括儿童、乐龄人士和身体有缺陷的人。他也希望，Molly能培养他们成为邻里图书馆的积极使用者。
内外大翻修
为了鼓励小朋友们上巴士阅读，Molly的外观采用色彩鲜艳的卡通设计，吸引小朋友们的注意。
另外，Molly的内部也进行了大刀阔斧的改装。工作小组装置了可以摆放3000本图书的橱柜，还为橱柜装上了铁窗，以免书本在Molly行驶时掉下来。
巴士里还装有e-kiosk 和 Borrowing Machine，方便小朋友们借书和查询借阅情况，也让他们熟悉国家图书馆的设施。
接下来两年的试用期里，Molly会“拜访”不同的学府和机构，而它的逗留时间将取决于这些机构的反应和需求。
图书管理员会随着各个机构的不同阅读习惯而改变Molly的藏书,并定期更新巴士上的书籍。他们到特别学校之前也都会接受训练，以便更好地协助学生。
Molly的服务不局限于提供借阅服务，它还可以举办讲座和工作坊等活动。
有兴趣者，可以拨打国家图书馆的联络号码 63323255 或电邮至helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg、ask@nlb.gov.sg询问详情。
想看看这辆流动图书馆到底有多特别，就点击vodcast吧！
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NLB launches mobile library service to reach out to more readers
By Cheryl Lim, Channel NewsAsia
Posted: 04 April 2008 0021 hrs
SINGAPORE : The National Library Board (NLB) is in the process of setting up two new libraries. But details such as the location and date of completion have not been disclosed. This update was given at the launch of NLB's new mobile library service named MOLLY on Thursday. With this library on wheels, NLB hopes to tell those who do not frequent its branches that if they cannot come to the library, then the library will come to them.
At Pathlight School, students are encouraged to read as much as possible. But there are only 500 books in the school's library. So along comes MOLLY. It brings along with her nearly 3,000 books. The mobile library has a total collection of 23,000 books. Books are replenished daily from a location at Jurong. The bus will also run programmes like art workshops and, magic and music performances.
Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said: "MOLLY is really a project for outreach to provide a teaser, a sampler of books, so that we can encourage people who may not otherwise have visited the library to just drop in, take a look, see if there are books they are interested in and get into that habit of borrowing books."
One student said: "I like the mobile library because it's comfortable and I like the books." Another student commented: "I like the information they give."
MOLLY, which was furnished at the cost of $1 million, comes equipped with a borrowing station and an e-Kiosk that patrons can use to check their library accounts. Lim Kok Eng, Manager of Public Library Services Group HQ, said: "The mobile library service that we had in the 1960s to the 1990s, all transactions that we did on board the bus were largely manual. If you remember we used the card system. Over on this bus, everything is done through online transactional exchange via the 3.53G mobile broadband network."
Pathlight School is the first of the 30 destinations for MOLLY, which is a pilot project that will run until May next year. NLB says Molly will be heading to neighbourhood primary schools and special needs schools. It will also visit the aged and children in homes and may also offer its services at community events. Some examples include Macpherson Primary School, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home and Darul Ihsan Orphanage. - CNA/de
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April 3, 2008
Mobile library to reach out to young
By Sumathi V. Selvaretnam
LIBRARIES on wheels, a common sight in Singapore during the 1960s, are making a mini-comeback.
The Government on Thursday launched Molly the mobile library - actually a converted SBS bus - in a bid to reach readers who seldom visit brick-and-mortar book centres.
On trial till May next year, the mobile library will visit neighbourhood primary schools, orphanages, children's homes and special education schools, said the National Library Board.
The interior of the bus, which holds 3,000 books, was remodelled to resemble a real library. It features specially designed bookshelves, a borrowing station and e-kiosks where users can check their book-loan records and pay fines using ez-link cards.
Its collection of books, which comes from a pool of 23,000 titles, is restocked daily.
Books on the bus will be selected to meet the needs of the readers at its destination. The bus will make visits once every three weeks to coincide with the loan period of books.
Mobile services were started in 1960 to relieve the pressure on Singapore's limited library system. They were discontinued in the early 1990s when more public libraries were built in the heartland.
Speaking at the launch event at Pathlight School, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said that Molly was 'a kind of sampler' to entice people to visit the main library.
'The challenge today is not the physical availability of libraries, but rather, reaching out and making sure that people who can benefit from access to books know about it and are given the access to it,' said Dr Balakrishnan.
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Read more here
LIBRARIES on wheels, a common sight in Singapore during the 1960s, are making a mini-comeback.
The Government on Thursday launched Molly the mobile library - actually a converted SBS bus - in a bid to reach readers who seldom visit brick-and-mortar book centres.
On trial till May next year, the mobile library will visit neighbourhood primary schools, orphanages, children's homes and special education schools, said the National Library Board.
The interior of the bus, which holds 3,000 books, was remodelled to resemble a real library. It features specially designed bookshelves, a borrowing station and e-kiosks where users can check their book-loan records and pay fines using ez-link cards.
Its collection of books, which comes from a pool of 23,000 titles, is restocked daily.
Books on the bus will be selected to meet the needs of the readers at its destination. The bus will make visits once every three weeks to coincide with the loan period of books.
Mobile services were started in 1960 to relieve the pressure on Singapore's limited library system. They were discontinued in the early 1990s when more public libraries were built in the heartland.
Speaking at the launch event at Pathlight School, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports Vivian Balakrishnan said that Molly was 'a kind of sampler' to entice people to visit the main library.
'The challenge today is not the physical availability of libraries, but rather, reaching out and making sure that people who can benefit from access to books know about it and are given the access to it,' said Dr Balakrishnan.
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Read more here
2 comments:
2037. nice number
yeah.. nice number.. i bought the number for the weekend but never open leh.. all eaten liao..
boo hoo hoo
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