library@esplanade

Address

8 Raffles Avenue
#03-01
Singapore 039802

Opening Hours

Mon - Sun: 11:00 AM - 09:00 PM

Closed at 5.00pm on eves of Christmas,
New Year & Chinese New Year
Closed on Public Holidays
Bookdrop Hours : 7.00am - 2.00am

Contact Info

Email: enquiry@nlb.gov.sg

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How to get there

Nearest MRT: City Hall / Esplanade
Bus Interchange:
Buses: 36, 56, 70, 97, 111, 133, 162, 195, 502, 502A, 75, 77, 106, 171, 700A, 857, 960

Click here to view Floor map

Description

The library@esplanade, Singapore's first public library dedicated to the performing arts, was officially opened on 12 September 2002 by Mr Khaw Boon Wan, then Senior Minister of State for Transport and Information, Communication and the Arts.

A one-stop resource library for the performing arts, library@esplanade also offers information and services in the areas of music, dance, theatre and film. Besides the collections, the library is also host to a variety of performing arts related programmes and exhibitions. The library's location on the third level of the Esplanade – Theatres on the Bay is unique within Singapore, and makes it one of the few libraries in the world to be co-located within a performing arts complex. It spans an area of approximately 2,300 square metres.

Unique Features

• 4 ‘Villages’
  In keeping with its theme, the library has adopted the metaphor of a village to lay out the collection into four performing arts ‘Villages’: Music, Dance, Theatre and Film. Library resources are categorised by village, with different media formats, print and non-print, found alongside each other, allowing for greater accessibility and convenience. These are the collection highlights for each of the villages:
  
  Dance Village
  - Dance performance and instructional videos
  - Dance notations
  - Books on choreography and dance education
  
  Film Village
  - DVDs that include blockbuster, art and foreign language films
  - Blu-rays
  - Screenplays
  - Movie tie-ins
  - Books on film production, post-production, film history, film studies, biographies, and various film genres
  
  Music Village
  - Music CDs including classical and pop music
  - Music performance and instructional videos
  - Music scores and sheet music
  
  Theatre Village
  - Play scripts
  - Opera and musical theatre videos
  - Books on dramaturgy, stagecraft and drama education

• Facilities for Performing Arts 

  The library@esplanade has facilities catered to the performing arts, that are available for rent. These include:
  
  - Screening Rooms
  - Piano Practice Room
  - Silent Studio
  
  

  For rental rates and other information on these facilities, please refer to the NLB Facilities Booking page here.

• Reference Collections (RCLOS)
  
  The library@esplanade is home to a number of Audio-Visual reference collections, which may be requested for viewing within the library premises. These include:
  
  - Arts Alive Collection
  - W!ld Rice Collection
  - Asian Film Archive Collection
  
  For more information on these collections, please click here.

For more info, click on library details

Performing Arts Collection

Open Stage

Silent Studio