Celebrating 30 years of reading together with exciting and immersive experiences to rediscover the joy of reading
5 July 2025 — READ30 launches today, with a series of events to celebrate reading! Everyone is invited to rediscover and reimagine “#HowDoYouRead” through a city-wide spread of library nodes to discover recommended reads from local personalities, a multi-sensorial reading experience, and even discounts at homegrown bookstores. To kickstart the festivities, Minister for Digital Development and Information, Mrs Josephine Teo, toured “Worlds Within” at the National Library Building today.
READ30, a special edition of the popular Read! Fest, is held in celebration of NLB’s 30th anniversary. For this year’s edition, NLB has worked with more partners from the literary community, including authors, personalities, bookstores and more, to bring reading excitement and joy to everyone. The festivities extend online too, with a #HowDoYouRead challenge on social media, where participants stand to win an e-book reader by sharing their favourite reading position. More details and highlights of READ30 as follows:
Step into “Worlds Within” where stories come alive through the five senses (5 July to 27 July 2025)
Get ready for a literary adventure like no other at Worlds Within, where words leap off the pages to surprise and delight all five senses. Featuring quotes from 25 specially selected titles, this multi-sensory marquee experience offers visitors a unique and immersive reading journey. Highlights include:
On the weekends, take a stroll through the charming Weekend Market for handmade crafts such as customised book sleeves and artisanal wares, and fun activities catered just for book lovers. Visitors can also browse a curated selection of books from local bookstore partner Closetful of Books at the festival’s bookstore. Please refer to Annex A for more details on Worlds Within.
NLB Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Cher Pong, said: “NLB has been actively promoting Singapore's reading culture over the years. To mark our 30th anniversary, we are launching a supersized READ30, a special edition of our popular Read! Fest, for everyone to discover the future of reading. Through READ30 and the incredible support of our partners, including local authors, personalities, and bookstores, we are transforming everyday spaces into fresh, surprising literary encounters designed to spark a lifelong love of reading in every Singaporean. Together, we can grow a reading nation, where everyone reads more, reads widely and reads together!”
Explore eight vibrant Pop-up Nodes across town (5 to 20 July 2025)
The fun continues across eight vibrant Pop-up Nodes at some of Singapore’s popular hangouts, namely Shaw House, ION Orchard, The Paper Bunny at Ngee Ann City, Outside Mandarin Gallery, TRIFECTA, The Cathay, School of the Arts, Singapore (SOTA), and Bynd Artisan at Raffles City — supported by Orchard Road Business Association (ORBA).
Each Node explores lively themes like wellness, food, travel, and more, featuring 90 specially selected titles in English, Chinese, Malay, and Tamil — personally handpicked by 30 well-loved Singaporean personalities including Myle Yan Tay, Shabir Sulthan, Violet Oon, Haryani Othman, and Gemma Rose Foo. Please refer to Annex B for more details on the recommended reads. Visitors can browse the physical books or eBooks at the Nodes and enjoy exclusive discounts on READ30 recommended titles and more through NLB’s partnership with local bookstores, such as Closetful of Books, Book Bar, Wormhole and Basheer. There are also cosy reading corners, personality showcase areas and dedicated photo walls for patrons to snap photos. Please refer to Annex C for more details on the discounts offered.
To extend the celebrations online, visitors can join the #HowDoYouRead challenge and share their personal, quirky reading styles on social media, helping to build a collective story of Singapore’s rich reading culture. Singaporeans are invited to share their love for reading and inspire others by tagging @readingnationsg and using #HowDoYouRead on their social media posts for a chance to win a Kobo Libra Colour, supported by Rakuten Kobo. More details can be found on the National Reading Movement’s website.
Check out recommended reads from the Singapore Presidents at the Presidential Pop-up Library (12 July to 2 September 2025)
Another READ30 highlight, launching on 12 July, is the Presidential Pop-up Library – a first-of-its-kind showcase celebrating the values, voices, and legacies of past and present Presidents of the Republic of Singapore. Through a curated selection of books about the Presidents of the Republic of Singapore, and their recommended readings, this pop-up brings together reading, history, and heritage in an engaging, accessible way for readers of all ages. Stay tuned for more details on this special pop-up library!
Nurturing a nation of readers: A look back at Read! Fest through the years
Read! Fest is a biennial festival organised by NLB to celebrate the joy of reading and inspire all to read. In 2016, it became a part of the National Reading Movement, encouraging Singaporeans to Read More, Read Widely, and Read Together. Since its debut in 2014, NLB has seen an incredible response to this flagship festival, reaching more than 2 million participants through in-person and online programmes, installations, an interactive literary trail and Read For Books across eight editions of Read! Fest. This year, the festival takes on special significance with READ30, a commemorative edition marking NLB’s 30th anniversary.
Based on NLB’s National Reading Habits Survey 2024, reading habits in Singapore remain healthy with more adults having read at least one book in the last 12 months, compared to 2018. Building on this momentum, READ30 aims to deepen the love of reading by making it accessible, enjoyable and immersive for all. To fuel a passion for reading, READ30 transforms the city into an immersive reading trail, bringing surprising and delightful literary experiences to everyday spaces. Through creative partnerships and captivating pop-up experiences, NLB invites all Singaporeans to read, learn and discover – anytime, anywhere.
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About NLB
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 in 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 Digital Development and Information (MDDI).
For more information, please visit the NLB website, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn and YouTube channels.
For media queries, please contact:
Zoey Tan
Weber Shandwick, Singapore
+65 9073 6422
ZTan@webershandwick.com
Annex B - Books recommended by 30 Singaporean personalities available at Nodes
Annex C - Exclusive READ30 discounts offered in partnership with local bookstores