'Mini-Molly' mobile libraries a runaway hit

'Mini-Molly' mobile libraries a runaway hit

Two "mini-Molly" mobile libraries are proving to be a hit with pre-schoolers and have been booked up to December.

These libraries are housed in 7.5m-long vans which can each hold up to 1,500 books and 12 children at a time.

They are designed to access areas with narrow driveways and parking lots in small housing estates.

The interior of the vehicles resembles a regular library, complete with borrowing stations and bookdrops.

Assistant director of library services and management Jasna Dhansukhlal said this would help young children to become familiar with the experience of visiting a library.

These libraries are scaled- down versions of the National Library Board's Molly library buses which are retrofitted SBS Transit buses that visit various places, including old folks' homes and primary schools.

Since their launch in May last year, mini-Molly libraries have been visited 50,000 times by children from 189 kindergartens and childcare centres.

Minister for Communications and Information Yaacob Ibrahim yesterday visited a mini-Molly stationed at PCF Moulmein-Tai Pei Childcare and Development Centre. He read to 12 children from the book The Forest Fable by Gelyn Ong.

Ms Kit Chan, principal of the childcare centre, said the mobile library enables children to borrow books even if their parents are too busy to take them to the library.

 


This article was first published on June 11, 2015.
Get a copy of The Straits Times or go to straitstimes.com for more stories.

This website is best viewed using the latest versions of web browsers.