National Library Board pilots book delivery service
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Patrons have to physically return the items at any public library book drop.
ST PHOTO: KELVIN CHNG
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SINGAPORE – Those who do not live near a library or are too strapped for time to make a visit can now borrow books online and have them delivered to their doorsteps.
The National Library Board’s (NLB) new Borrow-n-Deliver initiative – a one-year pilot that kicked off on Monday – allows patrons to select up to four items on NLB’s e-catalogue and have them delivered to their home for a fee of $8 (before GST) each time.
These items include books, magazines and audio-visual materials, said NLB in a statement on Monday. Patrons have to physically return the items at any public library book drop.
NLB chief executive Ng Cher Pong said the initiative aims to make reading and learning more accessible to the public.
He said: “We are excited to try out a new way of bringing our library’s collections right to your doorstep.
“This comes after having heard from our patrons that an on-demand delivery service for physical books would be helpful, especially for time-challenged families and individuals.”
The pilot service, which will run till May 2024, is available to anyone who is an NLB member, has no outstanding fees in their membership account and has not reached their loan quota.
Library items will be delivered islandwide, including to Sentosa, from Mondays to Fridays between 9am and 6pm, via an external logistics service provider.
Separately, NLB in May expanded its children’s book subscription service – The Little Book Box – to include mother tongue language books. It hopes to cultivate an interest in mother tongue languages among children from a tender age.
This subscription service, which was launched in 2020, curates books for children aged four to nine every month. Subscribers pay $10 a month to have the books delivered to their home, or $8 a month to collect them from a locker.
Subscribers now have the option of receiving eight English books, or four English and four mother tongue language books.
Mother tongue language titles available include children’s classics such as 猜猜我有多爱你 (Guess How Much I Love You), Sang Kancil Dengan Harimau (Sang Kancil And The Tiger), and நமக்கென ஒரு வீடு (A Home Of Our Own).
NLB said more than 500 subscribers have signed up for the mother tongue language option.
It added that it works closely with educators and reading advocates to curate books that are suitable for different age groups. Children aged four to six receive picture books, while those aged seven to nine get two picture books and two fiction titles.
