Premium Member without Privileges
I had a few unpleasant experiences at the library@esplanade.
Many a time upon checking the online catalogue, it says the “Items Not Available for Loan”. Some of these books are published in year 2005. Some audio-visual (AV) items are produced in year 2004. Yet to this very day, they are not available to general public for borrowing. How strange!
Another incident that irks me more is when the search catalogue displays the AV material was “For Restricted Use, please Enquire at Service Counter.”
After enquiring at the counter, I was told that such items are only made available to ‘practitioners’ in the artistic fields, or to ‘students from the arts schools’. To add salt to wound, I was told such viewing could only be done within the library’s premises!
I find this a great discrimination. All library users should have equal rights of borrowing. As long as you are a member of the public library, no one shall be rejected from borrowing library items.
I had joined the public library as Premium Member to borrow audio-visual items. We have to pay annual membership fee of $21.00 to join the Premium Membership. Yet there are many items not made available for loan. Incidentally, basic members borrowed for free.
The library@esplanade, being Singapore's first dedicated library for the performing arts, should serve the community at large. With its extensive collection of AV materials to promote and discover arts in Singapore, it should keep to its corporate motto. Its enormous collection of audio-visuals materials should be kept for everyone not just minority users.
Instead of asking users to fill in lengthy forms, perhaps such audio-visual items can be loan out for shorter period of 2 days instead of the usual 14 days? This could free up scarce materials to other users.
I understand rare books or artifacts could be made as ‘Referenced’ materials. These are books perhaps so rare that only few printed copies are available in the world. However it is a different ball game for Audio-visual materials. Rapid advances in technology have made AV material easily available through mass re-productions. This allows the general public to enjoy movies in DVD or even Blu-Ray discs at the comfort of one’s home. Hence I do not see the reason for such items to be as ‘rare’ as Referenced Books that has to be strictly controlled.
I suggest mandating Premium Members to make reservations for special audio-visual items on-line via NLB’s website or at the Catalogue Station. Perhaps a higher reservation fee of $2.00 can be charged per item instead of the usual $1.55. The reserved items have to be collected and returned at one and only branch - library@esplanade. This will safeguard and minimize loss of such ‘rare’ audio-visual materials.
I hope the NLB will look into these matters expeditiously and continuously improve on its stellar service to the general public, old and young alike.
Thank you
Many a time upon checking the online catalogue, it says the “Items Not Available for Loan”. Some of these books are published in year 2005. Some audio-visual (AV) items are produced in year 2004. Yet to this very day, they are not available to general public for borrowing. How strange!
Another incident that irks me more is when the search catalogue displays the AV material was “For Restricted Use, please Enquire at Service Counter.”
After enquiring at the counter, I was told that such items are only made available to ‘practitioners’ in the artistic fields, or to ‘students from the arts schools’. To add salt to wound, I was told such viewing could only be done within the library’s premises!
I find this a great discrimination. All library users should have equal rights of borrowing. As long as you are a member of the public library, no one shall be rejected from borrowing library items.
I had joined the public library as Premium Member to borrow audio-visual items. We have to pay annual membership fee of $21.00 to join the Premium Membership. Yet there are many items not made available for loan. Incidentally, basic members borrowed for free.
The library@esplanade, being Singapore's first dedicated library for the performing arts, should serve the community at large. With its extensive collection of AV materials to promote and discover arts in Singapore, it should keep to its corporate motto. Its enormous collection of audio-visuals materials should be kept for everyone not just minority users.
Instead of asking users to fill in lengthy forms, perhaps such audio-visual items can be loan out for shorter period of 2 days instead of the usual 14 days? This could free up scarce materials to other users.
I understand rare books or artifacts could be made as ‘Referenced’ materials. These are books perhaps so rare that only few printed copies are available in the world. However it is a different ball game for Audio-visual materials. Rapid advances in technology have made AV material easily available through mass re-productions. This allows the general public to enjoy movies in DVD or even Blu-Ray discs at the comfort of one’s home. Hence I do not see the reason for such items to be as ‘rare’ as Referenced Books that has to be strictly controlled.
I suggest mandating Premium Members to make reservations for special audio-visual items on-line via NLB’s website or at the Catalogue Station. Perhaps a higher reservation fee of $2.00 can be charged per item instead of the usual $1.55. The reserved items have to be collected and returned at one and only branch - library@esplanade. This will safeguard and minimize loss of such ‘rare’ audio-visual materials.
I hope the NLB will look into these matters expeditiously and continuously improve on its stellar service to the general public, old and young alike.
Thank you
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