Confessions of a technophile

I almost forgot that Library@Orchard was closing until I watched a Channel 5 news report on MobTV. Yeah, I can't get enough of MediaCorp dramas despite the deluge of TV options here in the US.

I've never stepped into a library since primary school. Heck, I didn't even use the NTU library during my undergraduate days for any of my research.

It was only a few years ago that I started stepping into libraries again - but I wasn't there to borrow anything or listen to a talk. Rather, I was doing a couple of press interviews with NLB and the meetings happened to be held at libraries all over the island.

Yes, I am one of those people the library is trying to reach. And in some ways, Library@Orchard has done that.

Library@Orchard is Singapore's first lifestyle library. Housed within the walls of Ngee Ann City mall, it's designed like a bookstore, complete with a cafe and an area for talks and performances. Interestingly, the Kinokuniya bookstore is just below it. I wonder if sales at Kinokuniya will shoot up now that the Library@Orchard is gone.

The fact that it is in the middle of Orchard Road, Singapore's famous shopping belt, makes it more accessible, because I won't go to a library for the sake of it. It's a good place for me to chill over a cup of coffee and take a break from shopping. Meanwhile, I would grab a couple of magazines or some programming books.

Okay, I admit - sometimes - that I was merely looking for a place to sit down when the benches in the mall are always occupied during the weekends.

Whatever my reasons are, Library@Orchard fits into my lifestyle and is a departure away from the library as a separate, detached institution of yesterday. It's modeled like a bookstore, where I could go in to browse magazines on the rack while waiting for some tardy pals.

What libraries need to do is to mirror this more in cyberspace. Much has been said about using Web 2.0 tools to engage those who would otherwise not use libraries at all. I think the Holy Grail lies in the complete integration of libraries into our Internet life, not just on social media platforms. For instance, I could be browsing a book on Amazon, and the library could tell me that the same book is also available at my local branch.

The Book Burrow Firefox plugin already does this for users. When it senses you are viewing a book, it will add a small panel to the upper right corner of the screen. Clicking the panel will trigger the agent to go query for prices at other book sites and check your local libraries for availability. If we can already do this for books, we're only limited by the kinds of services that libraries can offer.

Library@Orchard has been a part of my life. While I'm sad to see it go, I'm confident that it will continue its legacy in a different form. One that will be integrated into our digital life as we look into the future of libraries.

Update: Thanks to the Rambling Librarian, I found a moving video tribute created by Library@Orchard citizen reporter Angela Jean: