Discover Your Creative Streak at NLB’s Thrive@Libraries 2025

Annual learning event features expert panel discussions, new digital game “Tabi and the Multiverse”, and “Festival of Funny Machines”

Singapore, 16 August 2025 — The National Library Board’s (NLB) annual learning event Thrive@Libraries 2025 returns with a slew of programmes for participants to discover ways to unleash their creative streak for work, life and more. The event takes place on 16 August at Singapore Management University (SMU) with a focus on developing creative confidence, designed to help working adults thrive in an evolving economy. This will be followed by a slew of programmes that will run till end-September 2025, and are mostly free for all to attend

Engage with Experts, Peers and More to Gain Creative Confidence

The Thrive@Libraries 2025 Festival is organised by NLB, SkillsFuture Singapore and Lifelong Learning Singapore in conjunction with the annual SkillsFuture Festival. Participants will get to engage with a range of experts from Singapore and overseas, who will share their perspectives and practical insights on how to fire up one’s creativity and to apply it at work, home or play. The following are some key highlights of Thrive@Libraries 2025:

  1. More than 10 talks, workshops and panel discussions – Includes sessions with prominent Singapore and international speakers, such as ADDO AI’s Dr Ayesha Khanna, Author Tay Guan Hin and Dr Gog Soon Joo, Chief Skills Officer of SkillsFuture Singapore, as well as Stanford University d.school’s Dr Susie Wise and Bill Burnett, Co-founder and Executive Director of the Stanford Life Design Lab.
  1. Open Book: The NLB30 Keynotes - Organised as part of NLB’s 30th anniversary celebrations (NLB30), this will be the third in the series, which kicked off on 21 July 2025. In this third session, successful homegrown entrepreneurs Felix Lee, CEO and Co-Founder of a leading mentorship platform ADPList, Jamie Lim, the second-generation leader of the furniture brand Scanteak, and chef and restauranteur Violet Oon, will discuss balancing creative ambitions with business practicalities.
  1. Make//Shift: Creative Confidence at Home, at Work, and in the World – In this interactive exhibition that NLB co-developed with the Singapore Institute of Technology (SIT), participants can share their experiences and ideas on creative confidence and help shape a more creative, compassionate future through real-world examples and personal engagement.
  1. Fail-a-bration – Organised like an “open mic” session, participants get three minutes to share about their most valuable failure and why it matters, taking turns with other well-known founders and creators. Through this informal and supportive environment, they can pick up career development tips from fellow participants, as well as share and celebrate their failures with others.
  1. “Tabi and the Multiverse” - A new digital game debuts at Thrive@Libraries, a casual point-and-click adventure game featuring Tabi the cat. Players can reimagine their career possibilities by solving puzzles that will test their knowledge and help them reflect on their career challenges and aspirations. Players can expect trivia quizzes, fun facts and reflective questions in this game. Those who complete all three rounds presented as three maps in the game will stand a chance to win attractive prizes in a lucky draw (entry form closes 6 Oct 2359h). The game will be available on the website (https://go.gov.sg/thrivegame) from 6 August 2025 to 6 January 2026.

Beyond Thrive@Libraries 2025

To further sustain learning opportunities even after Thrive@Libraries, NLB will be supporting the Singapore University of Technology and Design (SUTD) in its launch of the inaugural Festival of Funny Machines (FOFM). This event will invite participants, including students and academics, to explore human-machine relationships while building creative confidence through joy and humour in design. The first FOFM workshop will be conducted in September and is one of the programmes under NLB’s Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with SUTD earlier this year.

From 17 August to 30 September 2025, there will be more than 40 other programmes that will be available for all to take part in across various libraries as well as online platforms. Find out more at https://thriveatlibraries.com.

NLB’s Chief Executive Officer Mr Ng Cher Pong, said: “Supporting patrons in their personal and professional growth is part of NLB’s ongoing efforts to promote lifelong learning. It is also a key part of our LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025) vision to build a vibrant Learning Marketplace together with partners, where everyone can discover new knowledge that will enable them to thrive in a fast-evolving world.” 

Looking ahead, as part of NLB’s mission to encourage continuous learning, a new online thought leadership series featuring Stanford University’s lecturers and local experts discussing pressing global issues and emerging trends will be launched. The public can look forward to the first session that will kick off in January 2026.

Celebrating 30 Years of Reading, Learning and Discovery

The NLB30 celebrations are in full swing, and everyone is invited to be part of the exciting line-up of events and programmes to mark 30 years of reading, learning and discovering together. More details can be found in Annex A. Patrons may also visit the NLB30 webpage at https://go.gov.sg/nlb30 for the latest details.

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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 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 Digital Development and Information (MDDI).

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

For media enquiries, please contact:

Quah Jia Ling
Weber Shandwick
Tel: +65 9699 0830
Email: JQuah@webershandwick.com