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Choa Chu Kang Community Library

Choa Chu Kang Community Library, located at Lot 1, Shoppers' Mall, 21 Choa Chu Kang Ave 4, #03-01, Singapore 689812, was the second library to be opened in a shopping mall. Yeow Cheow Tong, Member of Parliament for Hong Kah GRC, Minister for Health and Environment officiated the opening of the library on 22 February 1997. It serves residents of the Choa Chu Kang, Hong Kah South, Kranji, Lim Chu Kang, Mandai and Yew Tee constituencies.

Library Layout
The library has a floor area of 1,477 square metres. The design of the library has the style of a bookshop furnished with wooden bookshelves. The children's section has bright colours painted at both ends of the bookshelves which help to enliven the whole section. It has a customer services counter, children's section, activity room, adult and young people's section and reference collection, all in a single level.

Collections
The library has a book collection of about 174,663 volumes and a journal collection of 9,837 volumes.

Services and Facilities
Choa Chu Kang Community Library has online-public access catalogues and fourteen multimedia stations. The library was the first to install self-check machines for borrowing and returning of books. In June 1998, it was protyped with Borrower's Enquiry Machines with cash card payment, and the multimedia system called PANS 3. The library installed the Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology which allows books to be cancelled immediately as they are returned through automated book-drops and the loan records of the patrons are updated instantly. The new system allows patrons to borrow new books immediately. The library also provides bulk loan services to organisations and institutions whereby they can borrow from a minimum of 20 to 200 books for a period of 90 days.

Programmes
Regular storytelling sessions in English, Malay and Mandarin are conducted for the children. The library has a Library Helpdesk programme by volunteers from the Singapore Indian Development Association (SINDA). The aim of the programme is to inculcate the habit of reading in the age group of five to nine years old. English and Malay storytelling are conducted by the volunteers on Saturdays. For adults, educational and informative talks are held fortnightly.



Author
Jenny Tien



References
Koh, B. C., & Choy, F. C. (2000). Directory of libraries in Singapore 2000. Singapore: The Library Association of Singapore. 
(Call no.: SING 027.00255957 DIR) 

National Library to spend $100 m on new technologies. (1997, February 23). The Straits Times, Home, p. 27. 

Marion, R. (November/December 1997). @the library: New wave libraries. Retrieved March 24, 2003, from www.nlb.gov.sg/libbackissues/back.jan_feb/features/newwaves/ 

The information in this article is valid as at 2002 and correct as far as we are able to ascertain from our sources. It is not intended to be an exhaustive or complete history on the subject. Please contact the Library for further reading materials on the topic.

Subject
Architecture and Landscape>>Building Types>>Public Buildings>>Libraries
Public libraries--Singapore
Libraries--Singapore
Law and government>>Culture and community>>Public libraries
Science and technology>>Library and information science>>Library and information services



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