From library trucks in parks to digital talks, masterclasses, and even physical reading pop-ups, the National Library Board’s ‘Reads for what you need’ campaign continues to promote reading at a national level, urging everyone to find wisdom, courage and even escape in the world of words as they navigate the challenges of modern living amidst the COVID-19 situation.
Here are the three interesting segments of the campaign that include fun ideas such as downloading a book from a wallpaper!
Pop-up, Read up
Visit the “wallpaper library” at Marina One which was set up as part of an outreach to bring the library experience to readers, offline and online as well as promote reading in unexpected spaces.
Located at #B2-59 of Marina One, the walls in this popup are covered with over 100 featured titles of various genres which are provided by NLB. Each title is accompanied by a QR code that invites people to borrow the books via the NLB mobile app at their convenience.
18-feet Roving Optimax Truck
National Library Board is also working with NParks and SMRT to present a roving 18-feet Optimax truck dressed up as a library-themed truck. The artwork on the truck features curated books for adults and children with each being accompanied by a QR code inviting families and parkgoers to borrow the featured eBooks or download the NLB mobile app which will provide access to thousands of other eBooks at their convenience.
For those who are interested to catch the Optimax truck, it will be plying on selected routes from Mondays to Thursdays and will be at Bishan Ang Mo Kio Park (22 to 24 January) and West Coast Park (29 to 31 January) from Fridays to Sundays.
Reading in the Age of Distraction
The National Reading Movement will also be going online with digital conference ‘Reading in the Age of Distraction’ over two Saturdays, 23 January and 30 January.
The conference will feature leading international thinkers who will reflect on how we read. The conference is a first for National Library Board and will touch on the reading habits of adult Singaporeans, such as reading on screens, reading news, and consuming social media.
Participants can sign up for free and a summary infographic will be provided at the end of the class. Learning packages will also be available for participants to learn more and will be hosted on the National Reading Movement website.
For more information, go to the site here.
Let’s Chat About It
NLB has also launched the first-ever National Reading Movement Chatbot to recommend what to read next. With over 140 titles in the database, their Chatbot tailors its recommendations to the patrons’ preferences.
You can try it here or access it by clicking the “Message” button on the National Reading Movement Facebook page.
For more information, visit the various NLB social media platforms.
