Colonialism, Ethnicity, and Geopolitics in the Development of the Singapore National Library

Abstract

This article addresses the social, political, and economic forces that influenced the development of the Singapore National Library in the 1950s and 1960s. Singapore inherited a British colonial system that neglected both the education of indigenous residents and library development. A major impetus for the development of a national library came as the country moved toward independence in the 1950s and '60s, and it became politically necessary to provide a multilingual rather than a predominantly English-language library. After independence, the Singapore National Library collections and policies were influenced by the censorship imposed by the government in power in the early 1960s. This article examines these three social factorscolonial inheritance, ethnic issues, and the geopolitical situation -and the effects they had on the early development of the Singapore National Library. This is a pre-print of the original article that appeared in Libraries and the Cultural Record 44 (4): 418-433.

Handbook of Research on Disaster Management and Contingency Planning in Modern Libraries

“…Upon Independence, the library languished for a time, understaffed and rarely used by the local population. Even before Independence, the local Chinese population had developed a series of schools so that Chinese children (whether from China or born in Singapore) could be educated in the ways that Chinese parents were most familiar with (Luyt, 2009). At the same time, the Chinese population also opened a series of reading rooms across the island to provide literature in Chinese, as the official library failed to do so (Luyt, 2009).…”

“…Even before Independence, the local Chinese population had developed a series of schools so that Chinese children (whether from China or born in Singapore) could be educated in the ways that Chinese parents were most familiar with (Luyt, 2009). At the same time, the Chinese population also opened a series of reading rooms across the island to provide literature in Chinese, as the official library failed to do so (Luyt, 2009). With the conclusion of World War II and the beginning of Communism and the Cold War, "…much of the Singapore government's interest in the National Library at that time was a result of the perceived need to challenge the readings rooms by providing multilingual library services" (Luyt, 2009).…”

“…At the same time, the Chinese population also opened a series of reading rooms across the island to provide literature in Chinese, as the official library failed to do so (Luyt, 2009). With the conclusion of World War II and the beginning of Communism and the Cold War, "…much of the Singapore government's interest in the National Library at that time was a result of the perceived need to challenge the readings rooms by providing multilingual library services" (Luyt, 2009). There was a rapid increase in the acquisition of non-English language materials, especially Chinese, shortly thereafter.…”