It was that time of the year again to celebrate your love for the library. On Saturday, 24 May, parents and school students gathered at the Jurong Regional Library to participate in the annual programme in its third year.

‘I Love My Library’ is a continuous initiative to engage the public to exercise considerate behaviour towards others in shared spaces like the Public Libraries. Dr N Varaprasad, Chief Executive (CE), National Library Board (NLB), was present to encourage the young library patrons. “Libraries are communal spaces. We need to be considerate towards the needs and feelings of other library users, and one way we can begin to do this is by treating library facilities with care and respect,” he said.

Leading the Way to Loving Your Library
What better way to promote civic-consciousness than to demonstrate it yourself? Selected through their artwork submissions created for the ‘I Love My Library’-themed competition, 22 students have been appointed ambassadors of good library etiquette. They will set examples on how to use and love libraries through simple gestures, such as keeping quiet and handling all library materials with care.

“Very often, I hear people talk very loudly in the library, disturbing the peace and quiet of other users,” shared Chew Shao Quan, an ambassador representing Riverside Secondary School. “I hope that by setting an example I can encourage others to respect the need for silence in libraries,” he added. 
 

This year, 15 schools were also appointed to adopt an ‘I Love My Library’ Day in their school calendar, incorporating activities and messages which seek to inculcate the love of reading, together with the importance of good library etiquette, in their students.

We Appreciate You Too!
To further encourage good etiquette in the library, library staff will be constantly on the lookout for users demonstrating commendable behaviour. These users will be awarded a ‘You’re the One’ certificate. A group of users have also volunteered to be ‘Friends of the Library’ (FOLs), and will be walking around the Public Libraries to advise users on good behaviour.