Return Them Books, Johoreans!

For those users of the Sultan Ismail Library in Johor Bahru who completely unclear on the concept, it works like this :

You go to a library to borrow books.

The last time I looked, the word "borrow" carried the meaning "keep temporarily and then return".

The Star reports today that of the 6,471 books borrowed from the library, only (wait for it) 40 have been returned, despite an amnesty campaign.

I talk a lot about the need for public libraries on this blog, but sometimes you have to think that folks just do not deserve them. Still, looking on the bright side, the library may beat the Pahang State Library for a place in The Malaysian Book of Records.

The Library That Can't Lend Books

This great distinction belongs to the KL Library which has been telling members since December 24th last year that they cannot borrow books because of "“technical problems” with the library’s computer system, according to the Star today. The library has not been able to process the books manually due to problems keeping track of the books.

Dewan Bandaraya Kuala Lumpur public and international relations officer Anwar Mohd Zain is quoted as saying that the system should be back up and working by the end of this month.

I can imagine a whole lot of frustrated readers out there ...

Note:

Talking about frustration, I'm not able to send or receive from my main email account at the moment. If you have sent me anything in the last 24 hours please could you send it to my yahoo account? : sharonbakar at yahoo dot com. Sorry for the inconvenience.

British Council Library Closes

I knew earlier, but now can pass the news on: the British Council Library in KL is closing.

Sad, but yes, understandable. After a couple of years of drawing up lists of books to restock the library, I've come to realise just what an expensive service is to keep running, particularly as the number of members (and therefore the revenue from them) is small. (If your response to this is a howl of outrage, let me ask you, when was the last time you borrowed a book? I didn't borrow either as I am so bad at remembering to take books back!)

Sadder still for me is the fact that the e-library service won't be available for much longer either. I really found this useful for research purposes. But because the passwords got passed on so often to people who weren't members of the library, the service became just too expensive to be tenable.

Still, in these days of massive warehouse sales and excellent bookshops in every shopping mall, no reader should go book-hungry. And it's good that the money can be channeled into new ventures, including the active promotion of literature through other means.

But I'm sad I won't get to order my whole wish-list of books in the future.

* I can forward the list of libraries to anyone who is interested.

Postscript (22/1/08):

Did not realise at first that the closure of this library is part of a world wide phenomena, and less about our KL branch not being viable than about a change in the perception of the role of the council. Fay Weldon attacks the closures in the Independent.

Cosy Reading Corners

Because I haven't much time or mental space to blog anything more meaningful at the moment, thought I'd leave you with photos of a couple of places where some kind people set up areas where folks can sit and read without having to join any library.

Let's turn this into a mini-quiz - do you know where (in the Klang Valley) these places are?

Reading Corner 1

Clue: This is in a space dedicated to the arts.



Reading Corner 2

Clues - here's everything you need to know about foreign travel, the muffins are great and Sharanya hangs out here a lot.


If you know of any other reading spaces, or if you have set one up yourself, take a photo and I'll post it up.

Libraries Not a Major Turn On

A piece in the Malay Mail on Monday reports that:

The numbers prove that the National Library is not a hot spot with city folk.Only 491,497 people visited the place last year. A quick calculation: divide the total by 365 days and the library gets only 1,347 visitors a day. ... In 2005, the number of visitors recorded painted a sadder picture at 285,688 people but the National Library had a valid reason as some sections were closed due to an overhaul of its roofing system which extended into the early months of 2006.

One of the problems mentioned in the article is accessibility - many people who would like to use the facilities just don't have the means of transport to get there.

National Library director Siti Zakiah Aman outlines plans to bring more visitors to the library including educational interactive programmes with exhibitions, games and performances by a children ’s theatre group. Outreach reading programmes will also be organised.

A related article looks at the low visitor numbers of the Raja Tun Uda Library in Shah Alam, Selangor, while another polls fifty members of the public and asks them when was the last time they used a public library. For most it was when they were still at school or studying. One of the respondents points out that the dress-code enforced in libraries (no shorts, revealing t-shirts or slippers*) is a sticking-point. Many readers prefer to buy books or find the information they read on-line.

But Deputy PM Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak seems to me a bit merajuk**when he says that there is no point in building more libraries or providing more tax relief for books if most Malaysians do not care to read.

Maybe Klang's new 13m E-library (left with Klang Municipal Council (MPK) president Abdul Bakir Zin pictured in front of it) will be more successful?

(Translations for those from elsewhere: * Local word for flip-flops/thongs; **Untranslatable Malay word, the closest meaning in English being "to sulk".)

City Library

An article from Monday's Star Metro about the Kuala Lumpur City Library. I've yet to poke my nose round the door, but I love the architecture (which echoes the Moorish style of other buildings in the area) and the interior looks cheerful and welcoming.

The figures look good too: 74,000 walk-ins since the opening and some 6,000 adults registered as members since it opened in 2004. (Aiyoh, musn't ask how many stolen library books!)

The World Record for Stolen Library Books?

Does the Pahang State Library hold the world record for largest number of stolen library books, I wonder? This story is a couple of years old, but I don't remember reading it in the papers here. It was picked up by AFP and I came across it on a Zambian website. (Bizarre the way stories travel!)

Kuala Lumpur - Malaysians in central Pahang state have failed to return more than 20 000 books including some rare and limited editions from the state library, it was reported.

Some of the books were taken from the Pahang Public Library as long as 28 years ago, state library acting director Faridzah Jaafar said.

Several of the missing books are rare and printed only as limited editions and as such are practically irreplaceable, she said.

"We have tried many ways; some of the borrowers we contacted by letters or memos, some through the telephone, but it is difficult," the Bernama news agency quoted her as saying late on Wednesday.

"Some of them have moved out of Kuantan, Pahang, some admitted the books they borrowed were damaged and some had even died.

"Even more shocking, some of the borrowers admitted they were 'keeping' the books on purpose, because the books were so rare," she said.

The library has an "amnesty month" which is held to enable borrowers to return all overdue books without being fined.

"All they need to do is put the books in a special bin outside the library. They don't have to worry about being known or blacklisted by the library management," she said.

It's not the kind of statistic that would ever find itself in The Malaysia Book of Records though. (The pin picture with the most pins, the longest sitting Santa Claus, the biggest Malaysian flag made from tin cans, the highest water fountain and the largest cement tree, yes. Anything slightly negative, nope, of course not.)

Postscript:

Walker is conducting a poll to see how many stolen library books people have, and which books they've defaced. I confessed. Don't tell on me!

British Books for Malaysian Schools

This article from today's New Straits Times describes a project initiated by The Centre for British Teachers (an organisation I used to work for, by the way): pupils in schools in rural areas will be receiving books contributed by schools in Britain to encourage the learning of english.

I applaud anyone who puts books in the hands of kids and encourages them to read.

But is it necessary for an overseas agency to do what the government here should really be doing by itself? Is this country so impoverished that it cannot afford to equip its schools adequately to cater for growing minds? Surely books for schools should be among a country's first priorities?

Wouldn't it be nice if the CfBT project could shame the Ministry into releasing adequate funds for every school to have a decent library?