As a mother of three school-going children and with ageing relatives, I have often found myself at the hospital for some reason or other.

With our ageing demography, I imagine a large proportion of Singapore's population would be in a similar situation.

With that in mind, I think it would be good to situate public libraries with hospitals as a step towards promoting a reading culture among Singaporeans of all ages.

Since hospitals are located in convenient and accessible sites islandwide, libraries could also benefit from being located in those places.

Patients and families would be able to pick up books, magazines and other reading materials during their hospital visits, instead of constantly being on their phones.

Since hospitals are open round the clock, a small section of the library could be automated and made available to those who may want a good read in the middle of the night.

It would be a lovely initiative I hope to see come to fruition in the near future.

Dorothea Lim Hua-Fern