NLB seeking more volunteers as in-person activity resumes, digital initiatives continue

Public libraries here are targeting to triple the number of volunteers to 6,500 by 2026, as physical activities resume and digital initiatives that started during Covid-19 continue.

The National Library Board (NLB) said there are new roles for volunteers in the works. For instance, volunteers will help in producing supplementary materials, such as tactile materials, to support the learning needs of persons with disabilities at the upcoming Punggol Regional Library.

Between April 1, 2021, and March 31 this year, nearly 2,000 volunteers participated in initiatives such as online storytelling and the Documenting Covid-19 In Singapore project to archive people's experiences of the pandemic.

Before the pandemic hit, libraries had more volunteers, who were also helping out with the physical activities.

NLB partnership division director Soh Lin Li said that at the Punggol Regional Library, volunteers will act as library guides to recommend library resources to people with disabilities, facilitate online learning programmes and speak at book clubs.

Ms Rajalakshmi Kannappan, 32, a volunteer who has been making Tamil storytelling videos since 2020, said the programme will expand to in-person storytelling sessions next month at the Jurong Regional Library.

For now, the human resource and marketing director ropes in her husband and three children to film and star in these storytelling videos, which are uploaded to Facebook and YouTube once every four months.

What began as a way for her to spend quality time with her children during the pandemic and teach them Tamil has become much more.

"My friends, who are in other countries, don't have videos like this. When I share these videos with them, they play them to their kids," she said, adding that they look forward to new videos.

Ms Rajalakshmi believes it is important for her children to speak their mother tongue, not just to communicate with their grandparents in India, but to appreciate the lyrical beauty of the language.

Volunteer Yvonne Tai, 55, and her autistic son Choo Jun Wei, 26, see their work at NLB as a way to give back to the community.

Ms Tai, a housewife, has been volunteering as a storyteller for kidsRead since 2009 when her son joined the programme for children with special needs.

Mr Choo, a part-time store assistant at Enabling Village, said he enjoys telling stories to special needs kids because he can help them with their learning.

Ms Tai said: "He is more confident now. Volunteering has shown him that he is not just someone who receives help - he is capable of helping others as well."

At NLB's volunteers' appreciation evening held at Jewel Changi Experience Studio yesterday, NLB chairman Lee Seow Hiang thanked volunteers for their constant support, even during the pandemic.

He said: "Partnerships like these, between the community and public organisations like NLB, are precious and we greatly appreciate the time, energy and passion of all our volunteers who are helping to build a reading and learning culture in Singapore."