Marine Parade 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 ...

Marine Parade Marine Parade is a planning area and residential estate located in the Central Region of Singapore. Straddling the tip of the southeastern coast of Pulau Ujong, Marine Parade serves as a buffer between the Central and East regions of the ci ...

, Singapore. It is co-located with Marine Parade Community Club in the

Marine Parade Community Building Marine Parade Community Building () is located at 278 Marine Parade Road, Singapore. Opened on 6 March 2000, it houses the formerly separate Marine Parade Community Centre and Marine Parade Public Library, as well as a performing arts group, T ...

. It is the first public library owned by the

National Library Board The National Library Board (NLB) is a statutory board under the purview of the Ministry of Communications and Information of the government of Singapore. The board manages the public libraries throughout the country. The national librarie ...

to be located inside a

community building Community building is a field of practices directed toward the creation or enhancement of community among individuals within a regional area (such as a neighborhood) or with a common need or interest. It is often encompassed under the fields of ...

. Currently, it is the only public library that is not located near any MRT station. But this will change in 2024 the

Marine Parade MRT station Marine Parade MRT station is a future underground Mass Rapid Transit station on the Thomson–East Coast line in Marine Parade, Singapore. Located underneath Marine Parade Road near the junction of Marine Parade Central, the station will serv ...

on the Thomson–East Coast line is expected to be opened.

History

The library was originally called Marine Parade Branch Library. It was officially opened on 10 November 1978 by Mr

Goh Chok Tong Goh Chok Tong (; born 20 May 1941) is a Singaporean former politician who served as Prime Minister of Singapore between 1990 and 2004, and Secretary-General of the People's Action Party between 1992 and 2004. He was the Member of Parliament (MP ...

, Senior

Minister of State Minister of State is a title borne by politicians in certain countries governed under a parliamentary system. In some countries a Minister of State is a Junior Minister of government, who is assigned to assist a specific Cabinet Minister. In ...

(Finance) and

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...

for

Marine Parade Single Member Constituency Marine Parade Constituency was a single-member constituency in Marine Parade, Singapore. It was formed in 1976 after the land reclamation works to build Marine Parade were completed and carved out from Joo Chiat Constituency. Goh Chok Tong made ...

and was opened to the public three days later on 13 November 1978. The Marine Parade Community Library was originally located at the town centre of Marine Parade Housing Estate at 6 Marine Parade Central, Singapore 449411, before it shifted to its new premises at the community building. The library is Singapore's second-oldest public library and the only one built on

reclaimed land Land reclamation, usually known as reclamation, and also known as land fill (not to be confused with a waste landfill), is the process of creating new land from oceans, seas, riverbeds or lake beds. The land reclaimed is known as reclamati ...

. The Marine Parade Branch Library was renamed as Marine Parade Community Library when the National Library Board became a statutory board in September 1995. It started moving in stages to the community building in April 2000, and was officially opened by Goh Chok Tong on 28 May that year. The Marine Parade Community Library is the first public library in Singapore to be housed together with a community club and an arts group. The library's old premises was renovated for an

NTUC FairPrice NTUC FairPrice is the largest supermarket chain in Singapore. The company is a co-operative of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC). The group has 100 supermarkets across the island, with over 160 outlets of Cheers convenience stores isl ...

supermarket.Suzanne Sng, "A three-in-one community hub", ''

The Straits Times ''The Straits Times'' is an English-language daily broadsheet newspaper based in Singapore and currently owned by SPH Media Trust (previously Singapore Press Holdings). ''The Sunday Times'' is its Sunday edition. The newspaper was establish ...

'', 27 May 2000.Joshua Lye, It's not cricket when corruption strikes, ''

'', 27 May 2000.Heng Wong and Naidu Ratnala Thulaja,
Marine Parade Community Library
", Singapore Infopedia,

, 1999. Retrieved 18 February 2020. It was renamed as Marine Parade Public Library in 2008. The library is spread over four floors of the Marine Parade Community Building, with a floor area of 3,534 square metres (38,039 square feet). As one of the first neighbourhood libraries, the library's entire second floor is its children's book section, featuring

mural A mural is any piece of graphic artwork that is painted or applied directly to a wall, ceiling or other permanent substrate. Mural techniques include fresco, mosaic, graffiti and marouflage. Word mural in art The word ''mural'' is a Spani ...

s, trivia and multimedia tools. The library has more than 150,000 books and 2,500 videos available for loan. There is a café on the ground floor, and the library is fitted with numerous couches and benches for the public's use. Other facilities include multimedia stations, do-it-yourself service stations, and music posts equipped with headphones.

References

External links

National Library Board
{{Singapore NLB libraries, state=expanded 1978 establishments in Singapore Libraries established in 1978 Library buildings completed in 1978 Libraries in Singapore Marine Parade 20th-century architecture in Singapore

History

See also

References

External links