SINGAPORE — Growing up with eight siblings and about 10 cousins under one roof, Madam Wong See Moey had always put family first.

Spending her childhood in an attap house in Sembawang, the former childcare teacher recalled being taught the importance of Chinese culture. This, coupled with a deep love for children, spurred her to volunteer her time at the Sembawang Public Library, telling Chinese stories.

“After I tell a story, the children are happy. If they are happy, I am happy. At the same time, they also learn a lot of things, like (Chinese) culture, festivities and values inculcated in the stories,” said the 55-year-old volunteer who conducts 30-minute storytelling sessions every first Friday of the month. Mdm Wong, a mother of two, is one of 26,000 active volunteers with the 26 libraries under the National Library Board (NLB).

Ms Evelyn Quek, the NLB’s assistant director for corporate social responsibility and volunteer management, said the number of volunteers had grown from just 260 a decade ago.

Volunteers usually help out during events, maintenance of the library’s collection materials and storytelling.

For Mdm Wong, each storytelling session is based on a theme such as honesty. She will choose about three books that carry the theme within their narrative.

To engage her audience further, she even brings props, usually iconic objects that appear in the stories she tells. “For stories on lantern festival, I’ll bring a lantern,” said Mdm Wong who hopes that her storytelling sessions will encourage her young listeners to develop a love for reading.

Volunteer work is nothing new for Mdm Wong. Back in the late 1980s, she and a group of neighbourhood volunteers would carry books, toys, and arts and crafts materials to different blocks in Yishun. These were then placed on a big mat and members of the public were allowed to borrow and have fun with the materials.

Mdm Wong’s storytelling sessions have not gone unnoticed by library users. Once, the grandmother of a child in her storytelling group gave Mdm Wong a homemade clay vase for Teachers’ Day. And when the Sembawang library was closed for renovations, another child wrote her a letter: “I hope you can come back to tell a story.”

Sharing a similar appreciation for Chinese culture is Morgan Meyer, 15, who volunteers weekly at the library@chinatown. Coming from a mixed heritage background, the international student uses his volunteering experience to connect to his Chinese roots.

Other than helping to shelve books and assisting in programmes run by the NLB, Morgan also tries to brush up on his Mandarin by interacting with the community. Morgan said volunteering has given him the chance to become exposed to the local culture, something that an international school lacks. Assisting in the exhibitions “helped me learn a lot about the Pioneer Generation — the people, their tradition and culture”, he said.

With the National Reading Movement launched yesterday, the NLB hopes to create a vibrant reading culture in Singapore through various initiatives. One project is a library-themed MRT train, where commuters can download e-books through QR codes printed in the carriages.

Mdm Wong thought the project was a fitting one, as she had noticed that more and more people were using electronic devices to read books in the trains.

Morgan, pointing to the amount of reading materials that are available for free, said: “I think it’s absolutely terrific, the Singapore Government has been investing a lot in offering these libraries, and they are so accessible for the locals.”

Correspondent - Iliyas Juanda