FOR DISCUSSION ONLY Updated 23 April 2008
DRAFT PROPOSAL FOR PUBLIC LIBRARIES IN
“The Public Library, the local gateway to knowledge, provides a basic condition for lifelong learning, independent decision- making and cultural development of the individual and social groups.”
International Federation of Library Associations and Institutions(IFLA)/UNESCO Public Library Manifesto, 1995
A Public Library which is well endowed with a range of print and digital information resources and that provides a range of services for all communities, is a powerful force for education and culture. It is ideally suited to this purpose as it is an institution that is open to all peoples of the state irrespective of age, gender, race, social status, religious affiliation, and citizenship status. It also caters for all members of the community irrespective of their personal skills and abilities.
Besides providing an environment that will excite its community to learn throughout their lives, the Public Library also engages with the community in promoting knowledge and awareness of its cultural heritage, and appreciation of the community arts and culture. It also works with other agencies including government departments, the business community and the many non-government organization in the state. It actively engages, partners and networks with all these groups to carry out programs that will enhance the creation of a civil society in the State.
The Public Library in Penang whose early beginnings date back to the year 1817, is the oldest public library in the region and was incorporated as the Penang Public Library Board when State Enactment no 2, was passed by the State Legislative Assembly on 13 June 1972.
It has over the years built up an extensive network of more than 100 service points where services are delivered through a Central Library in Seberang Jaya, branch libraries in Georgetown, Balik Pulau, Jawi, Bukit Mertajam and the Children’s Library in Scotland Road, 2 town libraries in Bagan Ajam and Simpang Empat, mall libraries in KOMTAR and the Mayang Mall in Bayan Baru, and more than 80 village/cyber community libraries located throughout the island and the mainland. In addition it has 11 mobile libraries, two of which are dedicated to services to the disadvantaged (orang kurang upaya). These mobile libraries make stops at about 220 locations throughout the state of
One of the key objectives of the State Public Library is creating and strengthening the reading habits of its citizenship. Presently it has a program called “Every Baby a Book” to inculcate a love for learning and reading from birth. The program is an expression of the United Nation’s Convention on The Rights of the Child (1989) that stresses among other rights, the right of every child to the development of his or her full potential.
The program, launched in July 2007, is based on very attractive cloth book, also entitled “Every Baby a Book”, which is used as a basis of a state - wide campaign to educate parents and caregivers about the value of interacting with babies through reading. The program targets babies from the time they begin their existence in this world and who, as they grow up will all become the, practitioners, and preservationists of the civil society we wish to evolve and perpetuate. In short, they will be making and living our dreams of everything good that we want for
The core messages of the “Every Baby A Book” program are
· Babies have unlimited learning potential and a tremendous capacity to learn.
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· This group needs more attention to their education from their parents/caregivers
· Libraries with children collections provide suitable environments for this group
For the future I would like to see the State government:
1. Give greater support to and actively engage in the development of public libraries, especially in the poorer areas of the State, by providing sufficient funding and human resources for their expansion.
2. Actively use and promote the wide network of libraries in the state as centers of community - oriented activities, including cultural activities.
3. Ensure that a copy of all important
4. Upgrade the libraries at community buildings such as the Batu Lanchang, Bayan Baru and the Taman Tun Sardon markets and at Tanjung Bunga and Rifle Range which presently come under the jurisdiction of the Majlis Perbandaran Pulau Pinang.
5. Support the learning journey of every new born baby in the state by proving a budget every year to produce the Every Baby a Book cloth book and present the book as a “welcome to this world” gift to the Penang-born babies who are our future.
Updated 23 April 2008
