NLB Affirmed As A Champion Of Good For Empowering Everyone To Learn And Discover

Singapore, 1 September 2022 – In recognition of the strong, unwavering corporate giving and partnership initiatives to build an enriching and vibrant learning community for all, the National Library Board (NLB) was conferred the Champions of Good Award by the National Volunteer and Philanthropy Centre today.

With the aim of developing and enabling meaningful and fruitful reading and learning opportunities nationwide for all Singaporeans, NLB has worked with partners to provide a vast offering of resources, programmes and initiatives across our public libraries, archives and digital platforms. These community programmes and initiatives include The Little Book Box, kidsREAD, WondeREAD, MOLLY the Mobile Library, My Tree House: World’s First Green Library for Kids at the Central Public Library, and the sustainability-themed Green Grove at Choa Chu Kang Public Library. These efforts augment the Equaliser role in NLB’s LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025) in helping to bridge societal gaps by creating and bringing more learning and advancement opportunities to everyone – from children, to seniors, less-privileged communities and persons with disabilities. [Please refer to Annex A for a full list of NLB’s community programmes.]

NLB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Cher Pong, said: “With this Champions of Good award, we are very heartened to be recognised for our strong community efforts and partnerships. We would like to sincerely thank our partners, sponsors and volunteers, who have been collaborating with us over the years, and making this possible. We would like to invite more organisations and individuals to partner us for LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025) and create more enriching learning opportunities. Together, we will continue to champion reading and discovery, build on and enhance our resources, programmes and initiatives, and create accessible, fulfilling learning experiences for everyone.” 

NLB’s partners also expressed their gratitude for our support in helping their beneficiaries. 

In partnership with The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund, NLB provides free subscriptions for up to 200 children for its monthly book subscription service, The Little Book Box. The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund spokesperson said, “The Little Book Box has delivered books to children across Singapore and made reading more accessible for them. We are pleased to collaborate with NLB on this initiative to provide more children from low-income families with the opportunity of reading books specially curated by librarians and encourage good reading habits from young.” 

NLB’s nationwide reading programme, kidsREAD, aims to cultivate the love of reading among children aged four to eight from less privileged families. Ms Yau Wai Man, the Chinese Development Assistance Council (CDAC) and Vibrance@Yishun kidsREAD staff coordinator said, “The kidsREAD programme has supported CDAC’s mission to help our beneficiaries to achieve upward social mobility through education by cultivating good reading habits from a young age.  We thank NLB for providing expertise and resources and their continuous support!” 

– END –

About National Library Board

The National Library Board (NLB) nurtures Readers for Life, Learning Communities and a Knowledgeable Nation by promoting reading, learning and history through its network of 28 libraries, the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore. NLB also forges strategic partnerships that encourage awareness, appreciation and greater discovery of Singapore’s history through its rich collections on Singapore and the region.

NLB achieves excellence through innovation, focusing on citizen engagement and co-creation, resource and digital innovation. This creates learning opportunities, greater access to library resources, services and archival collections, as well as a continual development of innovative library spaces. Established on 1 September 1995 as a statutory board, NLB is under the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI).

For more information, please visit the NLB website, and NLB’s Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube channels.

For media enquiries, please contact:
Denise Yuen Joween Song
Weber Shandwick  Weber Shandwick 
Tel: +65 9478 7377 Tel: +65 9677 2598
Email: dyuen@webershandwick.com  Email: jsong@webershandwick.com


Full List of NLB’s Community Programmes and Initiatives 

 Programme Description
kidsREAD

NLB’s nationwide kidsREAD programme aims to cultivate a love of reading among children aged 4 to 8 from less-privileged families. These children are able to participate in weekly reading club sessions curated by NLB Librarians.

Between 2019 to 2021, NLB collaborated with 404 partners which include social service agencies, self-help groups and schools. Through these partnerships, more than 7,000 children have benefitted from this programme.

WondeREAD

NLB’s WondeRead programme, launched in 2018, is an initiative to promote reading among children aged 7 to 17 from less-privileged backgrounds, through partnerships with organisations to increase access to books and reading resources. The three core WondeRead services that are easily accessed by beneficiaries are:
1. WondeRead@Home, where each child gets to take home four pre-loved books from NLB.
2. WondeRead Lit, where up to 200 pre-loved books are provided for reading corners located within the various social services agencies.
3. WondeRead DIY, where D.I.Y. resources are provided for organisations to conduct book-related activities and discussions with children and teenagers.

Between 2018 and 2021, NLB collaborated with 62 agencies and close to 9,000 children from lower-income families have benefitted from this programme.
 

Early Read

NLB’s Early READ programme provides quality content-based reading programmes for children aged 0 to 6 years and their parents. 

The Starter Kit programme under NLB’s Early READ programme involves partners from the Early Childhood Development Agency (KidStart) and selected preschool centres to provide appropriate reading materials and resources to children from lower-income families. It aims to improve early literacy of these children and help parents to kick-start reading with their children. The variety of ready materials in the Starter Kit enables parents to engage their children by talking, singing and reading to them; practices that are important to inculcate early interest in reading in their children. 

Between 2019 and 2021, NLB collaborated with more than 100 agencies, benefitting over 50,000 children from lower-income families.

MOLLY, the Mobile Library

(An NLB and Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple collaboration)

To further nurture a love for reading in the next generation, MOLLY, NLB’s mobile library, in partnership with the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, brings our books and services to over 100 organisations like Special Education schools, orphanages and welfare homes for youth who may not have ready access to public libraries. 
My Tree House: World’s First Green Library for Kids at the Central Public Library

(An NLB and City Developments Limited collaboration)
My Tree House: World’s First Green Library for Kids at the Central Public Library, the world’s first green library for children, which opened in 2013, was designed to enable a multisensory experience in self-directed learning about environment issues. This very special space for kids was born out of a collaboration between NLB and City Developments Limited which rallied its like-minded green partners to support this ground-breaking effort. 
The library offered a collection of green-themed books and a wide-range of programmes to encourage children to explore, discover and learn to read and care for the environment. 
 

library@chinatown

(An NLB, CP1 Pte Ltd and Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple collaboration)

library@chinatown is the first library in Singapore to focus on Chinese arts and culture, and to pilot a visitor self-service model run by volunteers. The library works with various communities and interest groups to develop a variety of programmes and co-organise exhibitions in the library to cultivate greater understanding of Chinese Culture, and develop an appreciation for our multi-cultural society.
The Little Book Box

(An NLB and The Straits Times collaboration)
In October 2020, NLB launched a new subscription service for young readers aged 4 to 9 for eight carefully curated books from various genres to be delivered to their homes. 

To spread the love of reading, NLB partnered The Straits Times School Pocket Money Fund to provide 200 children from low-income families with free subscriptions to The Little Book Box since 2020.
The Green Grove

(An NLB and CapitaLand Hope Foundation collaboration)
As part of NLB’s efforts to transform library spaces to include more interactive spaces for educating and engaging the community on important environmental issues, the Choa Chu Kang Public Library’s Green Grove, sponsored by CapitaLand Hope Foundation, the philanthropic arm of CapitaLand Group, aims to cultivate environmental awareness and literacy through innovative learning and knowledge-sharing features such as the Hydroponics Showcase and Augmented Reality Learning Trail.

The newly revamped Choa Chu Kang Public Library has been recognised as the “Best Green Library for 2022” by the International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions (IFLA).