| 4. In which ways is the initiative creative and innovative?
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In terms of the overall strategy of the execution and implemention of library@chinatown, the following areas were considered:
1. Sponsorship: The need to work with like minded entities to help NLB create a library for the people with philanthropic support
2. Expertise: Sourcing for experts in the field to collaborate with us to deliver services to the community
3. Partnership: Locating parties that can help us make the library more interesting and attractive for the community
4. Stewardship: To seek help in running a niche library and help provide the necessary manpower
With these areas in mind, NLB and its partners then set out to implement a viable strategy to address these areas of concern.
Sponsorship
• For the first time, a private commercial organisation – property developer CP1 Pte Ltd – approached NLB to develop a library in its mall, Chinatown Point, located in the heart of a Chinese heritage district. The sponsorship by CP1 covered the design and development costs of the new library@chinatown.
• To aid in the sustenance of the library beyond start-up, NLB engaged new partners for this experimental venture and successfully sought the support of Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple to sponsor the operating costs of library@chinatown.
Expertise
• To augment NLB’s intellectual capital, it appointed an advisory panel of 12 experts – the Chinese Literati – comprising leading members of the Chinese education, arts, media and business communities to help advise on the library’s theme, target audience, collections and the Chinese name of the library.
Partnership
• To enhance the atmosphere and offerings by library@chinatown, NLB collaborated with Rediffusion – a digital radio service – to provide unique and appealing programmes and mini exhibitions for its visitors. In addition, Rediffusion has also set up listening stations where visitors can access archived radio recordings.
• Organise programmes such as Meet-the-Artiste sessions with authors and popular personalities within the cozy space dedicated to Rediffusion within the library.
• Other Programme Partners include local Chinese newspaper Lianhe Zaobao, TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) interest groups, calligraphers, History and Philosophy specialists, chess hobbyists, Chinese painting enthusiasts, Chinese opera troupes and Chinese orchestra students.
Stewardship
• A critical part of NLB’s engagement work involves its existing pool of volunteers and NLB is able to explore a wider range of opportunities for these volunteers by harnessing their strengths and varied interests.
• For library@chinatown, its volunteers have taken a more proactive role and have transitioned from a supporting role to that of a co-leadership one – be it in daily operations, visitor engagement or programme facilitation within the library.
• To promote these new opportunities in library@chinatown, NLB reached out to the community and grassroots, Members of Parliament of the nearby constituencies, as well as put a call out to academic institutions for interested parties.
• By providing relevant training, guidance and support to our volunteers we build their commitment and mindset towards embracing a proactive ownership of the library.
• We manage customers’ expectations about their “new” experiences of using a volunteer-run library for the first time.
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| 5. Who implemented the initiative and what is the size of the population affected by this initiative?
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In positioning library@chinatown as a space to learn about and appreciate Chinese arts and culture, NLB made a deliberate effort to engage and consult experts from the community in the conceptualisation and development of the library.
The key stakeholders are outlined below:
Advisory Panel
An advisory panel of 12 experts and distinguished literati, comprising educators, academia, and media experts, the Ministry of Education, local universities, arts school, and business council was formed to co-develop the identity and finer software of this unique library. The advisory panel provided focus on the new library’s concept, particularly in defining the library’s target segments and establishing its positioning as a public library that the man-on-the-street can access to discover Chinese arts and culture, regardless of race and language.
Volunteers
At the grassroots level, NLB made a concerted effort to engage them by offering opportunities for them to play a part in the daily running of library@chinatown as volunteers of the library. NLB enlists help from volunteers to perform major library operation functions that would be handled by NLB staff and third party vendors at our regular libraries. NLB hopes that through these volunteers, others within the community would be inspired to also volunteer in libraries and make libraries their own. Correspondingly, NLB’s staff deployment at the library@chinatown has been kept to the minimal and largely focused on guiding, cultivating and growing its pool of volunteers, while providing basic administration and facilitation to ensure overall accountability in the management of the library.
Partners
• Property developer CP1 Pte Ltd, who first mooted the idea to NLB to develop a public library within its shopping mall. It was agreed that NLB would provide the library development and management expertise, while CP1 Pte Ltd sponsored the development cost and start-up collection of the library.
• Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple - In order to sustain the operations of the library, NLB approached the community institution, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple and successfully secured their sponsorship of the library’s operational costs for five years, following its opening. The scope of the sponsorship encompassed the regular enhancement and refreshing of the library’s collection, organisation of programmes to promote Chinese art and culture, and costs of services, such as utilities and site maintenance, required for the daily operation of the library.
• NLB’s collaborated with Rediffusion (a local private radio service with a history of programming in Chinese) based in Singapore and secured free access to Rediffusion programmes (retrospective and new) for our patrons at the library. Regular Rediffusion–led activities and programmes are also conducted at the library to promote greater appreciation of and understanding of Chinese arts and culture within the context of our multi-cultural society.
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| 6. How was the strategy implemented and what resources were mobilized?
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Development Resources
• As mentioned above, CP1 Pte Ltd sponsored the development cost and start-up collection of the library at an estimated value of $3 million, while NLB would provide the library development and management expertise. CP1 Pte Ltd was also heavily involved in the outfitting of the library and contributed significant inputs that shaped the overall look and feel of the library today.
Operating Resources
• The library@chinatown concept was further refined as NLB actively engaged the community at different levels and convinced new partners to join us in the journey. In order to sustain the operations of the library, NLB approached the community institution, Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple and successfully secured their sponsorship of the library’s operational costs for five years, following its opening. The scope of the sponsorship encompassed the regular enhancement and refreshing of the library’s collection, organisation of programmes to promote Chinese art and culture, and costs of services, such as utilities and site maintenance, required for the daily operation of the library.
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| 7. Who were the stakeholders involved in the design of the initiative and in its implementation?
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1) Innovative Design: The new design of a public library as seen through library@chinatown’s unique and refreshing interior has been featured as an example of thought leadership and practical urban solution in a high density area, while concurrently maintaining its core function and goal of creating social learning spaces that inspire.
2) Range & Depth of Collections: Customers have commended on the good range and depth of collections. Some library patrons even offered to donate their own books to this library. Several compliments have also been received from the members of the public, describing library@chinatown as a “beautiful library with a wealth of books”, and that it offers an “excellent ambience, specifically Chinese culture oriented”, with a “good concept for a library conducive for reading and a good range of books”. One user even commented that the library “is another fine addition to the chain of libraries in Singapore.” These comments and sentiments underscore the popularity of the themed library in the community
3) Visitorship: In the first six months of its opening, library@chinatown has enjoyed a encouraging stream of loans and visitors. This indicates that the customers find the library conducive for their reading and learning of Chinese arts and culture. In the first two months since its opening on 31 January 2013, some 100,000 people had visited library@chinatown. In comparison, the average visitorship at library@esplanade, a similar set-up, in the same period was about 64,000.
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| 8. What were the most successful outputs and why was the initiative effective?
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The performance and efficiency of library@chinatown are measured in terms of loans (circulation of the materials), visitorship, number of enquiries received, number of programmes and attendees, collection health and growth, electronic retrievals, and customer satisfaction.
Customer satisfaction feedback and enquiries are received through our volunteers and Library Engagement Officers at library@chinatown, emails or phone calls to our staff at library@esplanade. The Cybrarian Kiosk, which allows users to connect with our customer service staff at our Contact Centre, is also another channel where users can get help or convey their satisfaction.
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| 9. What were the main obstacles encountered and how were they overcome?
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Managing user expectation
• One challenge faced by NLB is to manage users’ expectations of a library run by volunteers. As no librarians are present to intervene on proper usage of the library or act as a point of authority on library collections and services, visitors to the library@chinatown would have to use the self-service facilities and share the responsibility of keeping the library a pleasant place for all to use. The level of service quality in a volunteer-run library may not measure up to that of regular libraries, but library patrons have generally been understanding of the minor lapses in service due to the unique nature of this library.
Sustaining volunteer involvement
• Another challenge is to sustain volunteer involvement at library@chinatown. Volunteer motivation is easily influenced by lifestyle changes, competing interests and phase of life developments. Their participation and engagement can never be taken for granted and hence require dedicated resources to continually cultivate and motivate them. NLB shows appreciation to VSLs and VSSes by providing non-cash benefits such as appreciation lunches, or special previews of library exhibitions and programmes.
Appropriate performance measures
• NLB traditionally measures its performance through loans, visitorship, enquiries, collection size, electronic retrievals, and customer satisfaction, all of which are output driven and dependent on staffing and library resources. With the emphasis on institution and people roles at the library@chinatown, these measures and indicators may not apply to this library in assessing the outcome of NLB’s long-term work in promoting learning, building of social reliance, and cultivating graciousness amongst Singaporeans.
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