Community-funded Casual Poet Library stops lending books one day after it opens
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One day after founder Rebecca Toh launched Casual Poet Library on Aug 5, lending services have been suspended.
ST PHOTO: KEVIN LIM
SINGAPORE – One day after the opening of Singapore’s first pay-to-rent community library in Bukit Merah, Casual Poet Library has stopped lending books.
It posted on Instagram on Aug 6 that it would need “a little more time to optimise operations in the library, so lending will be suspended from tomorrow onwards until further notice”.
Its founder Rebecca Toh told The Straits Times (ST) that the problem was a matter of miscommunication between her and the landlord, who has not received the required approval from the Housing Board for a change of sub-tenants.
She said: “We’re happy to comply and will patiently wait for approval.” She added that she was told the approval might take one to two weeks to process.
The library remains open for browsing. Bookshelf owners each paid between $43 and $49 a month for a minimum six-month lease of a small shelf in the space located at Block 123 Bukit Merah Lane 1.
Its online catalogue has more than 2,300 books listed, and it was intended for members to borrow up to five books at a time for an annual fee of $25.
About 60 people have signed up as library members, and the library, which officially opened on Aug 5, greeted many walk-in visitors who borrowed books on opening day.
Bookshelf owner Laura Jane Lee says that owners are “surprised, but everyone seems to be taking it in their stride and confident that these are necessary hiccups to get things off the ground”.
On July 31, ST reported that Casual Poet Library was one of three new book space concepts that are experimenting with different ways to fight Singapore bookshops’ biggest killer – rental costs.
Over the past three years, major bookstores such as Books Kinokuniya and Times, as well as independent ones such as BooksActually and Sea Breeze Books, have closed their physical stores.
Ms Toh told ST then that, unlike a traditional bookstore, her model relieves pressure on a single owner. She estimated a start-up cost of $40,000 and a monthly outlay of $5,000 to run the space.
