Hedwig Anuar

By Zaubidah Mohamed written on 2002-10-09
National Library Board Singapore

Comments on article: InfopediaTalk

Anuar, Hedwig Elizabeth, nee Arozoo (b.19 November 1928, Johore Bahru, Malaysia -) was the Director of the National Library of Singapore from 1960 to the end of 1988 when she retired. She has contributed a great deal in promoting, developing and shaping libraries in Singapore. Under her directorship, the National Library made tremendous progress, growing from just one library to nine libraries and its membership growing from 43,000 to 330,000. She is also the founder-member of AWARE.

Education
1934 -1936 : Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Johore Bahru
1937 - 1941, 1946: Convent of the Holy Infant Jesus, Singapore
1947 - 1950 : Raffles College, Singapore
1950 - 1951 : Graduated with B.A. (Honours) in 1951 from University of Malaya, Singapore
1956 : Obtained the Associate of the Library Association (ALA)
1955 - 1957  : Northwestern Polytechnic School of Librarianship, London
1958 : Obtained the Fellowship of the Library Association (FLA)

Career
1952 - 1959 : Library Assistant, University of Malaya Library, Singapore
1959 - 1960 : Library Assistant, Assistant Librarian, University of Malaya Library, Kuala Lumpur
1960 - 1961 : Director, National Library, Singapore (on secondment from University of Malaya Library)
1961 - 1962 : Assistant Librarian, University of Malaya Library, Kuala Lumpur
1962 - 1964 : Assistant Director (Supernumery), National Library, Singapore
21 May 1965 - March 1968 : Director, National Library, Singapore (on contract)
Apr 1968 - 1988 : Director, National Library, Singapore (permanent)
7 Feb 1969 - 6 Feb 1978 : Director, National Archive and Records Centre, Singapore (concurrent)

Membership in professional bodies
Served in various capacities in the Library Association of Singapore and Persatuan Perpustakaan Malaysia. Served as Honorary Secretary (1969 - March 1980) and since April 1980 has been the Vice Chairman, and Chairman of National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS). Member of the British Library Association and International Association of Orientalist Librarians and Councillor of MBRAS.

Academic publications
Anuar has published over 100 articles, conference papers, reports in Singapore, Malaysian and overseas journals, as well as the Blueprint for Public Library Development in Malaysia (1968).  Those in the National Library:

How I became AWARE. (1998). Singapore: AWARE
(Call no.: SING 305.42095957 ANU)

Libraries in Asia. (1987). New York: Marcel Dekker
(Call no.: RSEA 027.05 ANU)

Issues in Southeast Asian librarianship: a selection of papers and articles. (1985). Singapore: Information Publications in association with Gower England.
(Call no.: RSING 021.00959 ANU)

Blueprint for public library development in Malaysia. (1968). Kuala Lumpur: Persatuan Perpustakaan Malaysia
(Call no.: RCLOS 027.4595 ANU)


Awards
1969 : Public Administration Gold Medal, National Day Honours
1973 : Honorary Life Membership, of Persatuan Perpustakaan Malaysia
1993 : Woman of the year, sponsored by Her World.

Contributions to the National Library, Singapore
Anuar contributed greatly to the growth and development of the National Library of Singapore. In September 1960 a much-needed service -- the Mobile Library Service was launched which brought library service to 2000 pupils in 35 rural schools in outlying districts. A new service called the Young People's Service was initiated in 1966 for the 140,000 belonging to the 15-19 age group, the second largest group in the library.

To promote the library as an Information and Cultural Centre, Anuar compiled and scripted a weekly magazine programme for Radio Singapore called Our Library which featured extracts from books, reviews, general news and interesting happenings at the library. Another promotional item in collaboration with the media was Off the Shelf. Short documentaries on the Children's Mobile Library Service were screened regularly at the local cinemas.

In May 1969, H. L White, Head of Australia's National Library, complimented the work of Mrs Anuar stating that, "for a developing country like Singapore to have a well stocked national library in so short a time is an achievement". Three months later she was one of the five top civil servants awarded the Public Administration Gold Medal.

Other Interests
Although Anuar retired in 1988, she has kept herself constantly busy with her involvement in the National Book Development Council of Singapore (NBDCS), the Association for Women for Action and Research (AWARE) of which she was the founder member, as well as in many other organisations. She is also in the process of writing a book on her family history.

Family
Anuar is a Eurasian and the second daughter in a family of six. She is divorced with two grownup children, a son Azmi born in 1957 and a daughter Shirin born in 1962. Both her father and an older sister, Marie Bong, were school principals.



Author
Zaubidah Mohamed



References 
Anuar, H. (1998). How I became AWARE. Singapore: AWARE.
(Call no.: RSING 305.42095957 ANU)

Gopinathan, S., & Barth, V. (Eds.). (1989). The need to read: essays in honour of Hedwig Anuar. Singapore: Festival of Books.
(Call no.: RSING 020.95957 NEE)

Helen, C. (1995, September). Beam: official magazine of the British European Association, 13.
(Call no.: RSING 052 BEA)

Who's who in Singapore (p. 78). (1981/82). Singapore: City Who's Who.
(Call no.: RSING 920. 05957 WWS) 

Toh, S. (1988, November 20) Farewell of surprises as library legend Hedwig Anuar retires. The Straits Times, p. 20.

Hedwig Anuar is Woman of the Year. (1994, March 10). The Business Times, p. 2.

Woman of the Year: Hedwig Anuar. (1994, March 10). The Straits Times, p. 1.

In honour of a former librarian. (1990, February 7). The Straits Times, section 2, p. 3.


Further Readings
Seet, K. K. (1983). A place for the people (pp. 118-137). Singapore: Time Books International.
(Call no.: RSING 027.55957 SEE)

Lim, P. H. (1986). Hedwig Anuar. In R. Wedgeworth (Ed.), ALA world encyclopedia of library and information services (pp. 50-51). Chicago: American Library Association.
(Call no.: R 020.3 ALA -[LIB])

Hedwig Anuar: First lady of the National Library [Slide]. (1988). Singapore: National Library.
(Call no.: RSEA 020.924 HED)

Hedwig Anuar: First lady of the National Library [Videotape]. (1988). Singapore: National Library.
(Call no.: RAV 020.924 HED)

Nirmala, M. (1994, March 10). A 65-year-old powerhouse still going strong. The Straits Times, p. 22. 

The ways of the dragon. (1988, February 17). The Business Times, p. 6.

Raffles Library gets its first local woman as its new director. (1966, September 19). Free Press, p. 4. 



The information in this article is valid as at 2003 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history of the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.



Subject
Personalities>>Biographies>>Community Leaders
Library directors--Singapore
National libraries--Singapore
Law and government>>Culture and community>>Public libraries
Science and technology>>Library and information science>>Library and information services

Librarian Recommendations
>> National Library History (1960-1995)


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