Two new mini libraries on wheels to reach out to 48,000 children

Two new mini libraries on wheels to reach out to 48,000 children

The National Library Board (NLB) on Thursday launched two new mini libraries on wheels to reach out to more young children in kindergartens and childcare centres.


Get the full story from The Straits Times.

Here is the full press release by the National Library Board:

Singapore - From today, two small mobile libraries will join the National Library Board's (NLB) existing big mobile library bus, "Molly", to bring the joy of reading to children.

These new "mini Mollys" will serve mostly kindergartens and childcare centres in HDB estates. Each year, about 48,000 children from 160 preschools will benefit from this service.

The mini Mollys were launched today at the My First Skool childcare centre at Haig Road by Ms Sim Ann, Minister of State, Ministry of Communications and Information and Ministry of Education.

Besides preschools, the mini Mollys will also visit welfare homes with smaller car parks, which cannot be served by the big mobile library bus.

Mrs Elaine Ng, Chief Executive Officer, NLB, said, "Currently, our Molly mobile library bus serves 75 organisations each year, including orphanages, welfare and old age homes, schools and childcare centres.

With the addition of the new vehicles, the Molly fleet will reach 235 organisations a year, almost three times the number of locations.

The mini Mollys will bring books and library programmes to preschools at least once a month. We can now bring books to more children, and start their reading journey from young."

Sponsored by the Kwan Im Thong Hood Cho Temple, the mini mobile libraries are custom-designed to provide children with an immersive library experience. On each trip, a mini Molly can carry more than 1,500 books.

The 7.5m-long mini Molly, which is equipped with an internal book-drop and a borrowing station, can receive up to 12 young readers onboard at a time.

Besides books, the mini Mollys will also have librarians to organise activities such as storytelling, arts and craft, and sing-a-long sessions to enhance the children's reading experience.

Interested preschools or welfare organisations which are keen to have a Molly mobile library visit their location can send in their requests to helpdesk@nlb.gov.sg.

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