While some of us may barely skim anything longer than what fits an iPhone screen, in theory, having a rich reading life is something we try to champion. We have a gorgeous National Library, an annual writers festival and lots of library branches throughout the island. And just yesterday, the National Library Board unveiled a new and improved “Molly” mobile library—the third one since 2008—which comes equipped with a new hydraulic wheelchair lift.
The concept of having libraries on wheels has been around since the 60s to spread the joy of reading as far as possible. This latest iteration currently stocks some 3,000 books and features whiteboards for activities, as well as service counters and book borrowing/returning stations that have been built with the younger readers in mind (in other words, they’re height-friendly).
Making its rounds in the heartlands of Singapore, Molly has made it more convenient for the under-served community who wouldn’t otherwise be able to go on their own because of the distance. Find out when and where Molly will be at next month, here.
Of course, the move reminds us that other “underserved communities” could also benefit from book lending services. We, like Singaporean poet Ng Yi-Sheng, would love to see books in Bengali, Tagalog, Burmese and other languages made available to our migrant worker community.
