Government Files

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  Library Association - Great Britain

  • Period : 24/9/54 -31/3/73
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 102/ NL 41-62 Vol 1

  
  

  The Director of the Raffles Library, LM Harrod, who also served as Chairman of the Malayan Library group, stocked up on publications from The Library Association and Schools Library Association in London, in order to enrich the local librarians' knowledge of librarianship. Courses were also held for librarians.
  
  Harrod also sought advice from the Secretary of the British Library Association, PSJ Welsford on prerequisites required to take the Library Association's Examination, so potential librarians could obtain their professional librarian qualifications. He also sought advice to help him formulate conditions of entry to the library service. The Ministry of Education Examinations Secretary furnished him the salary of trainee teachers with compatible qualifications. It is interesting to note that the wage disparity between the sexes existed even in the 1950s .
  
  An exciting internship programme was shared by Welsford which allowed for young librarians to spend one year attached to large public libraries in Great Britain, with a salary ranging from £400-575 per annum. Unfortunately, Harrod assessed this opportunity as not likely to result in many applications as there were few librarians in Malaya qualified to apply .
  
  The succeeding Director, Mrs Hedwig Anuar prepared a summary of the state of the library service in Singapore which is a useful and realistic snapshot of the prevailing reality. At the time, out of a population of 1.5 million, half were illiterate .
  
  Reference is made to the currency crisis, which affected library staff who were unable to join the Library Association, sit for the Library Examinations, or renew their membership to the Library Association, due to a suspension in the sale of bank drafts and postal orders .
  
  Also in this file: Details about how the earliest Mobile Library worked , trailers filled with books pulled by a tractor and left in designated venues. Tape recorded music in various languages were broadcast from the vehicle to attract attention.

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  Work Distribution

  • Period : 20/6/63 -12/10/66
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 119/ NL 360-62 Vol 1

  
  

  A job analysis was done in 1963 to compare the nature of tasks performed by senior officers and Library Officers in charge of branch libraries across a work week. There was a clear demarcation between professional duties and administrative work such as administration, correspondence, and meetings.
  
  The work distribution charts were revived in 1966 when there were plans to increase NL’s staff strength and reorganise duties .

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  Staff Meetings - Lending Section

  • Period : 26/8/63 - 8/8/75
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 117/ NL 328-62 Vol 1

  
  

  The staff meeting notes of the Lending Department give an insight into the many tasks that went into the job of a library officer . We also see the kind of training given to library officers extended beyond classroom training. The expectations of what defined professional conduct in the library was outlined during these meetings , examples included exercising vigilance when shelf reading to note gaps in subjects, constantly improving on customer service, and basic housekeeping. Early crisis management tips were also included, such as what to do if a reader became ill on their watch . Meetings such as these allowed staff to freely exchange their views .
  
  One of the core duties of Library Officers included book selection. Efforts were made to hone the librarians' skills, so they could grow the library's book collection . As part of the pre-work for each meeting, librarians took turns presenting book reviews, reviewing articles on library services, or creating a bibliography of books for home reading. Best practices were also shared from around the world .
  
  Also in this file: Note how devastating flooding in the old days was, such as to damage books borrowed. The library waived charges for members whose books had been ruined by the floods .

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  Staff Meetings - Reference Division

  • Period : 30/7/63 - 6/1/71
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 117/ NL 329-62 Vol 1

  
  

  In the Reference Department of the National Library, we see the beginnings of standardization of routines here - librarians codifying their tasks, writing them out step-by-step on index cards . These department meetings discussed book reviews; the ‘where to’ and ‘how to’ of book selection; the importance of reading professional literature to improve their technique and be able to troubleshoot problems related to reference work. To this end, a booklist of basic reading was recommended to the staff. Library Officers cut their teeth on people management when a buddy system was introduced, with each Library Officer supervising one Library Attendant, and also in coaching teachers who were at the National Library for work experience which would help them in their school libraries .
  
  The Library Officers were not spared small jobs - they took turns in rotation sorting books to familiarise themselves with the publications .
  
  Also in this file: In view of the MacDonald House bombing and bomb scare in the library, there was also discussion on stepping up security measures in the library. It was also during this time that salaries were transferred into staff bank accounts for the first time. And it appears some readers were using the library for more than just reading .

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  Training and Development - Introductory Course for new Asst Librarians - Children's Work

  • Period : 13/9/63 - 21/4/75
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 118/ NL 345-62 Vol 1

  
  

  The National Library (NL) took pains training its staff on children’s library work. Initially the training was confined to meetings on books selection and Library Officers (LOs) exchanging views on topics assigned by the Head of the Children’s Department, for instance factors affecting a child’s reading ability; how to attract backward readers and what English books to recommend to the non-native English speaker. A recommended reading list for children can be found here .
  
  Occasionally the LOs were able to learn from external experts, such as Noni Wright of Cathay Film Services, who has British Broadcasting Corporation experience, who advised and trained staff on storytelling. The librarians enjoyed field trips to other libraries to see how they were organized .
  
  There was also classroom training. NL organised "Library Service for Children", an in-house course to prepare its staff for the British Library Association professional examination. Covering 13 lectures, the syllabus included topics like the objectives and function of library services for children; psychology of the child; history and bibliography of literature for children - poetry, fairy and folk tales and books of knowledge. Professionals and lecturers were also invited from the Teachers Training College and Institute of Education to participate as guest lecturers. Attendees were given notes, reading lists, and were required to do course work e.g. to draft a book selection for a children’s library.
  
  Interested in seeing what the librarians were tested on? Past British Library Association question papers related to service for children and young people are found here .
  
  The National Library took its responsibility to grow expertise in librarianship seriously. Throwing a wider net than to just its own library staff, it also conducted a Storytelling course on Children’s Literature and Children’s Reading with the University of Singapore's Department of Extra-Mural Studies. A course of eight lectures, targeted at mothers, was designed to influence their children to read more and better books .

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  Job Descriptions - Acquisition Division

  • Period : 16/1/64 - 19/6/75
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 119/ NL 380-62 Vol 1

  
  

  A re-organisation of the sections within National Library (NL) called for detailed job descriptions of library officers, and their reporting lines. This file shows some of the work that went into clarifying roles, identifying headcount for each section, and their relevant organisation charts. There was also rebalancing of the workload based on this exercise . Notice a specific position for 'typist'!
  
  In the course of the re-organization, some departments had their roles enlarged, for instance the Order Section took over the ordering of serials, which was a job previously handled by the Serials Section. Certain jobs were upgraded, like the title of the Higher Library Officer (Malay and Special Materials Section) which was re-designated as Editor (Singapore National Bibliography) . These actions reflect care and thought given to the career path of library staff, their development, and workload.
  
  Significantly, in November 1969, Mrs Yoke-Lan Wicks, who started her career with the National Library in 1961 as a reference librarian, was appointed Deputy Director. She would later go on to replace Mrs Hedwig Anuar as Director upon her retirement in 1988.

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  Procedures - Administration Section

  • Period : 25/3/64 - 3/6/75
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 119/ NL 390-62 Vol 1

  
  

  As early as the mid-1960s, efforts were made to streamline and standardize processes within the National Library - a full decade before International Organization for Standardization became fully international! What you'll see in the file is essentially a series of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) on the administrative/financial/security procedures instituted by the Director, National Library (D/NL) for NL staff compliance. Also in this file is correspondence on administrative matters e.g. postal issues; and other staff matters.
  
  Although not explicitly titled SOP, but simply “Administration - Mail”, “Security - Building: Entry”; “Finance – Finance and Accounts: Expenditure Control”, these step-by-step guides were nevertheless SOPs. The first set of guides in the file is dated 1964. Periodic updates were made to the different guides - in 1970, 1972, 1973 and 1974 - building on the earlier versions and adding more detail. These guides went into a great deal of detail - one even specifies the size of envelopes and postal articles sent out from the NL .
  
  One of the first guides, “Correspondence”, spells out the chart of authority for incoming correspondence addressed to the Director and Heads of Sections .
  
  Guides on Financial Procedures covered expenditure control, petty cash, cash collection, payment of bills, salaries. The guides on Staff covered appointment of staff , absences from work, staff records, staff manual, staff confidential reports. There were also guides on Maintenance and Security of Premises. This speaks to the discipline and accountability that was enforced and maintained by the staff of the National Library even in these early formative years.

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  Meetings - Professional Staff - Public Services

  • Period : 24/6/71 - 22/12/75
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 125 /NL 138-71 Vol 1

  
  

  The head of the Home Reading Division, Chan Thye Seng chaired a regular meeting with section heads from the Library Extension Section, Queenstown Branch, Lending Section, Group Services, Children's Section and Young People's Section. The minutes covered day-to-day matters relating to library administration and operations. It also touched on staff performance. This regular interchange helped section heads cope with and handle emerging issues with input from their peers. A staff newsletter, the Grape Vine was put together to keep staff updated on new policies, events, visitors and other items of interest , edited by Douglas Koh, head of Group Services. Library officers took turns doing book reviews as well, of mostly non-fiction books on library management .
  
  Examples of issues touched upon at these meetings included:
  - How to prevent the reservation system from being abused (one member placed 15 reservations in a month!);
  - Lady's Chatterley's Lover no longer being banned (1971) and being put on the shelf;
  - Banned books in 1971: John Updike's Couples and a compilation of quotes from Mao Tse-tung;
  - A 1973 government policy of serving male readers with long hair last, which was reinforced in the libraries with posters and reminders for staff to be mindful of their own hair length ;
  - Dealing with the demands for the use of public libraries as venues for studying, which affected the formulation of NL's policy in planning public library services. A special meeting chaired by Mrs Anuar discussed this issue and it was agreed the Queenstown Branch Library would extend its hours to 10pm . The other solution is revealed here .

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  Publications and Reports - Grapevine

  • Period : 9/8/71 - 2/6/75
  • Microfilm and File Reference No : AP 116 / NL 319-62 Pt 1 Vol 1

  
  

  Grape Vine was the fortnightly staff newsletter of National Library (NL). The first issue filed here was published on 9 August 71 and the last issue filed was the 2 June 75 issue.
  
  This publication was an experiment, "a means of achieving better communications between staff and between sections" . Highlights such as new membership records were called out . Standard features included information on branch libraries, procedural changes within sections, people and staff matters such as promotions, transfers/resignations, committee members, interns/trainees, training and conferences, trip reports, personal items like unions, new babies, passing of family members, renovations and improvements, and calendar activities like talks, activities at libraries, visits and visitors. Another facility designed to improve staff welfare was a staff rest area . The book review column was a regular feature until the 29 May 72 issue, with its frequency became more ad hoc following that date. Bouquets for good service by library staff were also featured here . The staff benefited from a constant rotating door of visiting experts, and archivists from other countries who spent time attached to the libraries, learning on the job.
  
  The Grape Vine also included amusing observations made by librarians. An amusing anecdote about a note from a delinquent reader is included in . Staff enlisted the help of enthusiastic volunteers, both in the Toa Payoh branch as well as the Queenstown branch to help with programmes and publicity materials.