The National Library Board (NLB) on Thursday officially opened its first community-supported library.

It is funded by the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple and CP1 Private Limited and more than 40 Singaporeans have volunteered to run the library.

Library@chinatown has 40,000 items in its collection with most focused on Chinese arts and culture. More than 60 per cent of the materials are Chinese, around 40 per cent English and there is a small collection of Malay and Tamil items.

There is also a small selection of books and audio-visual materials in Hokkien, Teochew, Cantonese and other commonly spoken Chinese dialects that will appeal to older citizens, said the NLB.

Acting Minister for Culture, Community and Youth, Mr Lawrence Wong, who was the guest of honour at the event, said: "The library@chinatown is breaking new ground in many ways and bringing community involvement to a new level."