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

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
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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

library@orchard is closing its doors on 30 Nov and there’s a whole lot of work to be done before then!

We’re looking for volunteers to help us with the packing of selected books from 27 Nov to 4 Dec.

You need to be able to commit a minimum of 5 hours throughout the day. You can choose to volunteer on only 1 day or on all 7 days! We’ll love to have you (really… we need you).

If you’re interested to volunteer, please email occl@nlb.gov.sg with your name, NRIC, contact details, and preferred date and time. We’ll get back to you!

*Update: For those library-friendly people who are already existing Friends of the Library, you can also sign up to help library@orchard through the FOL website. (Thanks Valerie for the reminder!)

- Posted by Lynn with thanks in advance 

I’ve been thinking. (thinking leads to spewing. spewing leads to long posts… have patience ok, dear reader)

If you read this blog, you’ll probably know that this is the library@orchard’s blog, we are closing on Nov 30 2007, and the library@orchard is a public library located in Ngee Ann City, Singapore.

If you read more of this blog, you’ll know that we’re unique in that we’re trying to capture an age group, which according to a survey done years ago, did not really use the public libraries. And that group is: people aged btw 18-35.

According to said survey, this group of people “drop out” of the libraries after they leave school and they don’t come back until they have kids (it seems it’s more impt for kids to have good reading habits but it’s less impt for adults?).

To sidetrack abit, according to Jillian’s totally non-scientific observations, we can also add ”increasing decrease in the time available for reading” and “increasing disposable income to buy reading material” as some reasons for non-usage.

Anyway, I was actually gonna post about youths and the library!

Why?
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We’ve updated our Happenings page!

Amongst all of the updates is a film screening this Wednesday night (14 Nov, 7-9pm) on two independent film projects by local journalists - I Love Malaya and The Mitre Spell. You’ll also get a chance to hear how these busy journalists go beyond their regular work and produce independent films in a panel discussion.

I Love Malaya is a short film about the exiled former members of the Malayan Communists Party who want to return home, but can’t. In having to write a post on it, I did a search for the film on youtube (in between searching for Jolin Tsai videos) and watched a newsreel version clip of it. 

Reading the film sypnosis, I thought it would be a film about guerilla soldiers hiding out in the forests waging war over a political idealogy. You know, boring political debates and military figures walking around. Instead, the exiles are all in their 70s and 80s and are definitely not wearing uniforms. Although we grow up in a country where communism is a dirty word, I found myself starting to feel sorry for these elderly people who left their family, home, and loved ones 50 years ago, and have never been able to return.  

In the film, you hear and see many Malaysians who feel that this is just punishment for communists  The magic of the film is that it manages to humanize these ”communists”. It doesn’t touch on whether communism is right or wrong but shows you and makes you feel the plight of exile.

Watch it on youtube first if you want, but there will be a panel discussion with the filmmakers on Wednesday and I’ll love to hear what they have to say about their works. How many of us (ok, me) would love to be able to capture and evoke such emotion, but just don’t have the bloody talent?

Oh hey, found the trailer for The Mitre Spell:

Anyway, the countdown has started (17 more days!) to our last day at Ngee Ann City. We can’t bear to go out without a blast and have been working day, night, and early mornings to offer as many programmes and events as we can in our last 17 days here.

library@orchard is 8 years old, but if you’ve only found out in the last few months that we exist - it’s not too late! I repeat, it’s not too late!

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Yup, it’s finally here, the end of November looms ahead. The winds of change are in the air and before I start spouting yet more tacky lines about time and tide waiting for no man and the inevitability of mortal existence….. Let’s get straight to the point.

WE ARE CLOSING ON NOVEMBER THE 30TH and WE ARE HAVING A PARTY!
and you’re invited.

Please RSVP (asap!) if you are coming. Drop us an email at occl@nlb.gov.sg and don’t forget to let us know the number of peeps you’re coming with!

- Posted by Jillian