library@harbourfront, formerly known as Bukit Merah Public Library, is a

public library A public library is a library that is accessible by the general public and is usually funded from public sources, such as taxes. It is operated by librarians and library paraprofessionals, who are also Civil service, civil servants. There are ...

located at

VivoCity VivoCity is a shopping mall located in the HarbourFront precinct of Bukit Merah, Singapore. It is the largest shopping mall in Singapore, with of net lettable area and of gross floor area spread over a three-storey shopping complex and t ...

, Singapore. It is the largest shopping mall public library in Singapore.

History

Originally called Bukit Merah Branch Library, it serves the residents of

Tanjong Pagar Tanjong Pagar ( alternatively spelled ''Tanjung Pagar'') is a historic district located within the Central Business District in Singapore, straddling the Outram Planning Area and the Downtown Core under the Urban Redevelopment Authority's urb ...

Bukit Merah Bukit Merah, also known as Redhill, is a planning area and new town situated in the southernmost part of the Central Region of Singapore. the planning area borders Tanglin to the north, Queenstown to the west and the Downtown Core, Outram an ...

Tiong Bahru Tiong Bahru is a housing estate located within the Bukit Merah Planning Area, in the Central Region of Singapore. Tiong Bahru was constructed in the 1920s by the Singapore Improvement Trust, the predecessor to the Housing Development Board an ...

and

Telok Blangah Telok Blangah (, ta, தெலுக் பிளாங்கா) is a subzone region and housing estate located in the area behind Keppel Harbour in Bukit Merah, Singapore. ''Teluk Blanga'' is the district between Pasir Panjang and Tanjong Paga ...

. The library, which was situated at 3779 Jalan Bukit Merah, Singapore 159462, was officially opened on 28 December 1982 by the then Minister-without-Portfolio and Member of Parliament for Bukit Merah Mr Lim Chee Onn. On 29 December 1982, the library was open to public. It is the first branch library to have an

audiovisual Audiovisual (AV) is electronic media possessing both a sound and a visual component, such as slide-tape presentations, films, television programs, corporate conferencing, church services, and live theater productions. Audiovisual service p ...

(AV) section. The library closed for

renovation Renovation (also called remodeling) is the process of improving broken, damaged, or outdated structures. Renovations are typically done on either commercial or residential buildings. Additionally, renovation can refer to making something new, ...

from 28 December 2004 to 25 February 2005. It was officially reopened by the then Parliamentary Secretary,

MINDEF The Ministry of Defence (MINDEF; ms, Kementerian Pertahanan; zh, 新加坡国防部; ta, தற்காப்பு அமைச்சு) is a ministry of the Government of Singapore responsible for overseeing the national defence of S ...

and Ministry of Environment and Water Resources, MP for

Tanjong Pagar GRC The Tanjong Pagar Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) in Central and Western Singapore. The five divisions consists: Buona Vista, Queenstown, Moulmein-Cairnhill, Tanjong Pagar-Tiong Bahru ...

and Associate Professor Koo Tsai Kee on that same day. On 1 December 2018, the library ceased operations and was subsequently relocated to

as announced in 2017. At its current location the nearest MRT station to it is HarbourFront.

Planning

Bukit Merah Branch Library was originally planned in 1972, with the intention of being located at Telok Blangah New Town Centre, however, due to issues in securing the land the project was postponed. A new site for the library was found in February 1975. It was to have 4 storeys, however, this was reduced to 3.

Renaming

The library was renamed as Bukit Merah Community Library when National Library became a statutory board on 1 September 1995. The library was renamed as Bukit Merah Public Library after its renovation. On 12 January 2019, library@harbourfront was officially opened by the Minister for Communications and Information and Minister-in-Charge of Cyber Security, MP for

West Coast GRC The West Coast Group Representation Constituency is a five-member Group Representation Constituency (GRC) located in the western area of Singapore. The five divisions consists: Ayer Rajah-Gek Poh, West Coast, Boon Lay, Nanyang and Telok Blang ...

S. Iswaran.

Layout

Located on the 3rd floor of VivoCity, the library is designed with two distinct zones appealing to adults, teens and children. The children's section is designed to help young readers to learn through technology. The adults and teens section will be run by volunteers who will help to find and shelve books. In place of physical newspapers, there are 16 e-newspaper reading stations, the most of its kind in Singapore.

References

External links