Moving On: library@orchard in transit

NLB hit the headlines recently for a rather curious incident (nope, not of the dog in the night time!). Heh, this isn’t a “to-park-or-not-to-park” post, but something that caught my attention in the follow-up article run by the same publication.

Yes, there was a reference to a series of concerts held at library@orchard way back when in 2006. [Minor digression: Rock never dies and apparently, neither do bad memories. Did you know the brain remembers the bad experiences better than good ones? Here’s a quick link to a short article. I think I’ve also read it in Mind Wide Open… ]

Back to my actual point, the concerts.

Co-organised by Stomp, they happened to be a series of rock concerts by local bands. Some nights, you’d probably think another earthquake’s hit Sumatra…

Amazingly, some videos are still archived on the Stomp website, a round-up of different views can be found here. All the videos can be found at this other link, but much scrolling is involved (try somewhere around Oct/Sep 2006).

Anyway, we’re gonna be coming up with 2 libraries at Orchard Road, so one of the things we are busy with now is thinking up what these 2 spaces are gonna be like.

I’m thinking, hard rock concerts may not be the best thing to do, but those libraries shouldn’t feel as if you’ve just stepped into an examination hall, all you can hear is frantic scribbling and the flipping of paper.

Thinking “aloud”:

Is the public library only for solitary reading and studying?

What about creative expressions and social learning?

What should a library in Orchard Road be like? Should it be exactly the same as all the other branches?

How would you, gentle reader, attract teens to use the library?

Or, how would you convert those (young and old) who think reading is a waste of time? Obviously, running around with a slightly crazed look in one’s eyes, screaming “read dammit!” doesn’t really work…

We did a poll amongst youths, and they were keen on both “a quiet environment” and “a lively, vibrant environment”, proving that at the end of the day, that’s the way the kueh-kueh crumbles: what people want is to have their cake and eat it.

- Posted by Jillian, now hungry and looking for kueh-kuehs…

To be or not to be…

It’s been about 2 weeks since the library officially closed to the public, and today’s the last day that the bookdrops will be in operation (yes, sadly no more dropping off books at Orchard by the time Ngee Ann City closes tonight). I’ve got a bunch of tragic photos (the emptiness, the emptiness!) which I’ve yet to upload.

*points left* However the un-tragic poster pic in this post, comes from k5memo. (okok, the text has got a tinge of tragedy lah. )

So what’s been happening for the past 2 weeks? Staff and volunteers have been packingpackingpacking. Everything has to go somewhere, and the books were the 1st to go, by now most of them will be on the shelves of their new homes.

Currently, most of the shelves have been dismantled and all the equipment and furniture is in the midst of being transported to other branches as well. By next week, all the stuff that’s truckable would have left the library and soon we will too…

In the spirit of capturing the ephemeral and the lightness of beings, here’s a collection of links to the memories of the Moving On party as well as some reflections after. They come from: ex-staff, current staff, regulars, our citizen reporters, volunteers…

Happy reading!

Moving On: 30th Nov 2007
Cast no shadow, wheel no barrow by laichow (Youth.SG)
Lights Out by k5memo (aka Karen)
Bunnies are distracting by impulsive fool (aka Simin)
The End of a Chapter by chnrxn
library@orchard moves on by Ian Timothy
It’s a little late but… by Regina
Good bye Library@Orchard by Alice
Closure of library@orchard D-Day by the Rambling Librarian (aka Ivan)
Live blogging from library@orchard closing by Simply Jean
Closing of library@orchard by Yuhui
Library@Orchard is Moving On by Malcolm
Orc Lang Syne by luckypotter (aka Kenneth)
The Heart Never Lies by Jloe (aka Joel)
Library@Orchard by nurazreen
theres no space by NurAzreen (cousin of the above nurazreen!)
Back track to 30th November by la bibliothecaire
Death of a Library by Keviny
hmm.. by Claude
library@orchard… by Edric Hsu
Library@Orchard moves out of Ngee Ann City by Channel News Asia

The Aftermath:
A tribute to Library@Orchard by Aaron Tan
When the old national library closed… by mshow
Memories of library@orchard by wrkshy
Library@Orchard by classiclicious
Library at Orchard closes by e4saken (aka Gavilan)
A visit to Library@Orchard after its closure by Alice
~ by Audrey

- Posted by Jillian

Jillian: Olivia has sent us another guest post, this time on a programme she attended in November. Right now, the programme zone is filled with boxes, cartons, cabinets, and all sorts of barang-barangs, all waiting to go to their new homes in other libraries…

But here’s a snapshot of what it used to be. Enjoy! 

~* ~* ~*

24 November 2007
Moved by some Moving Images

On the way up to library@orchard…

W: Will the viewing be in a special room?

Me: It wasn’t mentioned. I think it might just be in the area next to the cafe.

W: I can’t imagine how they can do a film viewing session in an open space.

Me: There are usually some performances in that space. I’m not too sure either, it’s my first time.

W and I arrived to find a big crowd at the library on a Saturday afternoon to view 10 short films by 10 local film makers. It was interesting to watch what stories the film makers wanted to tell and how they presented their stories. I’m not a professional movie critic but I definitely enjoy a well-told story anytime.

Here is a pick of three of my favourite short films, in the order they were presented.

I was very amused by the comic sound effects used in Alaric Tay’s film ‘When We Were Bengs’. The film took on the theme of brotherhood in a fresh way. Like all siblings, Heng and Bee had their fair share of childish squabbles but they soon made up. The brothers bonded in touching moments of ice-cream sharing and para-para dancing with great gusto. There’s more information about this comedy here.

The director of  ‘Zo Gang’, Jacen Tan, cleverly used a typical morning of a Singaporean on his way to work to express some of the difficulties faced by film makers in Singapore. The dialogues in the film were peppered with familiar Singaporean lingo. It’s a film most Singaporeans can identify with. I also learnt a few basic things about film making. The trailer is available on here.

I was moved by Elgin Ho’s beautifully filmed and scripted ‘Nineteen Twenties’. He dedicated his film to those nineteen years of age, whom he believed will be stepping into a transition period in their twenties into adulthood. The good use of narration and music gave the film a natural story-telling feel. 

Elgin’s message ’If you listen with your heart, you will see what you hear’ was aptly portrayed in several scenes between the lead and his sister. It’s so true that as we grow older in a hectic city, we tend to neglect and be blind to the little things in life, e.g., birds chirping, leaves rustling in the wind, raindrops falling on rocks, and time spent with loved ones. Elgin’s film is available for viewing on YourFilm.SG.

I read that The Substation has been nurturing local film makers for 10 years. I applaud the film makers for their continued efforts to make good quality local productions. During the discussion at the end of the film presentation, Alaric Tay, Elgin Ho, Fai Rizal and Jacen Tan, shared about their passion for film making and their hopes for the Singapore film industry. 

Suffice to say that we have some talented film makers with unique stories to tell. I’m looking forward to many more local productions.

As mentioned there were some tech glitches wrt to the videos that were screened during last night’s Moving On event… but there’s always YouTube!

You are the One by Angela Jean (and friends):

Thank you Citizen Reporters! by Ivan Chew:

I [heart] library@orchard by Ivan Chew:

Read on for the lyrics to You are the One, the original song by lenniez that was used in the vid.

- Posted by Jillian
Read the rest of this entry »

In this post, we’re inviting all NLB staff, friends, members of public, random netizens to leave a farewell comment/gripe/wish/song dedication.

*Thanks Karen for dedicating Manhattan Skyline by the Kings of Convenience to us in the previous post!

- Posted by Jillian

- These words were left by one of our guests in our physical guestbook

Nope, I didn’t cry. Ivan says it’s because I have channelled it into being perfectionistically angsty about event tech hiccups. I think I’d feel better if I could just get rid of this feeling that I have but I don’t quite know how…

Maybe it’s because as part of the event organising team, I kept seeing the whole thing from a more detached perspective due to all the running around, answering queries, talking to guests etcetc. That I really didn’t have the time for my own goodbye.

Well, we will still be here packing all the stuff for about 2 weeks…

This isn’t a proper post-event roundup post, but just a few words to attempt to log how I feel at this moment.

Btw. we chose this song as our final song during the ceremony:

So kiss me and smile for me
Tell me that you’ll wait for me
Hold me like you’ll never let me go

‘Cause I’m leaving on a jet plane
I don’t know when I’ll be back again
Oh, babe, I hate to go

Now the time has come to leave you
One more time, oh, let me kiss you
And close your eyes and I’ll be on my way

- Leaving on a Jet Plane, as sung by Chantal Kreviazuk

The crowd found it moving (teary eyes were spotted) and maybe the next time you hear it, you’ll think of us.

- Posted by Jillian

Another day, another destiny…
- From One Day More, Le Miserable

So it’s not the eve of a revolution, but the eve of an ending and a new beginning (inspired by The Smashing Pumpkins!).

And in this musically-inclined post, I’m feeling like tomorrow is a sort of Bittersweet Symphony.

Tomorrow, we close, and it is indeed an ending of this journey of archiving and documenting the life of a library. But I think the new journey up ahead is starting, and if you’ve been reading this blog, please stay tuned as we move onto planning for our new spaces. We want your opinions!

On the topic of archival and documentation, I’ve really gotta highlight the efforts of our citizen bloggers once again! Check out Alice’s mega effort at 360 deg views of 21 (!!!) spots of the library. Gasp…

Ceneple and Max posted their thoughts about the library, and Charles, Regina and Priscilla have some cool photo sequences. Donna scared me with her promise of a post about 1 thing she hates about the library, but I’ll leave it to you to find out here, what it is that she hates! 

To all who are coming for our final swansong at library@orchard’s current venue (Ngee Ann City), I hope tomorrow will be a day you’ll remember Cos we’ll definitely remember the library as more than a workplace.

Ending off, here’s my song dedication to the library@orchard:

Speak to me, when all you got to keep is strong
Move along, move along like I know you do
And even when your hope is gone
Move along, move along just to make it through

-Move Along by the All American Rejects

- Posted by Jillian

Olivia’s one of our citizen bloggers but she doesn’t have a blog, so she’ll be guest blogging here!
Enough of boring ‘ol me, this is what Olivia sent us:

6 November 2007 Changes
 
I have been away from Singapore for three years. In that short span of time, I had returned to my home country on several occasions but each time only for a brief visit. On each visit, I noted changes in places that I went. But I didn’t pay much attention to them, until now.

The last few weeks had been overwhelming. I roamed ‘familiar’ shopping malls only to find that I needed to check a mall directory to find a shop, or worse, to ask someone where the toilet is (has moved to). I played tourist in a land that is my home. I braved outdoors each day to ‘familiar’ places, anxious that some might have disappeared into non-existence.

Perhaps one of the most visually shocking scene I saw was a tunnel of bright lights where the old National Library used to stand. The scene almost looked like that some aliens had landed their spaceship and had lifted the building up into their interiors. And then I heard the news that the library@orchard is moving.
 
As I stepped into the familiar library@orchard, I was reminded of my frequent visits there when I was younger. Back then, I liked it for its compactness. It wasn’t a maze of intimidating books. It held books that were of interest to me. The novels and travel books were very updated, and that meant I didn’t have to pay exorbitant bookstore prices for the latest reads. It was also the first time I felt relaxed at a library. Before library@orchard days, the library is a place where silence is golden and if you even squeak like a mouse, someone will ’shish’ at you.
 
Today, I returned to the same relaxed atmosphere at library@orchard. I was pleased to find that things are as they were. Well, almost. The sections are more or less as I had remembered them. But the titles are definitely updated. This is a positive change. I spied copies of cookbooks that I have been dying to own. I eagerly flipped through some titles and understood why floggers raved over some of them. I was able to relax in my own gastronomic world.

A couple of days ago, we received an email from Imran Ajmain, founder of the local hiphop collective: the Beats Society.

He had heard about our closure from Time Out magazine and was reflecting about his experiences doing gigs at the libraries… We’re really touched that he values the library@orchard (and all the other libraries that hosted the gigs) as “one of the dots” that “unknowingly connect themselves to create a pathway for people”. And we’re really sorry that Rauzan’s gig had those technical problems

Anyway, read his entire post here.

Youtube video of one of the gigs:

Btw I realised there’re quite a few videos of the library@orchard taken during various performances over the years… Check ‘em out with a keyword search “library orchard”

- Posted by Jillian

Check out the press release that was released on Nov 22, 2007.

5 more days!!! egads.

- Posted by Jillian