Establishment In April 1999, the
National Library Board (NLB) announced that it will be opening a library at the fifth floor of
Ngee Ann City, which was used as a carpark at the time, in August. According to an NLB representative, the library was conceptualised for 18–30 year olds as the NLB found out that visitorship to its libraries decreased due to students graduating from secondary school. However, there was speculation from
The Straits Times that the library would have to compete against
Kinokuniya, which was also opening an outlet below the library in August. Although Kinokuniya was unaware of the NLB's interests, the managing director of the Ngee Ann City branch believed that the library would "complement" the book store, adding that "the library's function is to promote reading habits. But we are there for book lovers who aspire to build their own libraries at home". An NLB representative also agreed, believing that "both [Kinokuniya and the library] to be complementary, not competitors". With an appealing ambiance, and the presence of music booths and a café, library@orchard managed to double its outreach since its establishment, with an average of more than 1.4 million visitors per year. The success of the first niche library developed for a specific audience led NLB to set up Singapore's first public
performing arts library—the library@esplanade at
Esplanade - Theatres on the Bay.
Closure and relocation On 25 July 2007, the National Library Board announced that library@orchard will be closed on 30 November that year because the
lease on the premises at Ngee Ann City would not be renewed. It was subsequently closed on that date.
Macquarie Pacific Star Prime Reit Management, which handled the library's lease, stated that the board paid
rent that was below prevailing
market rates for the 1,580 square metre (17,000 square feet) space. NLB was told in March 2005 that the lease would not be renewed beyond expiry in February 2008. The vacated space would house fashion, beauty and
wellness retailers. Rents in the Orchard Road shopping belt had increased 5–7% in the first half of 2007, and was estimated to go up by another 5–6% by end of that year. To mark the relocation of library@orchard, NLB held a series of public events and programmes, such as
exhibitions, film screenings, talks and even "
live" performances by local bands and musicians, in the months leading to the closure. A "Moving On" party was then held on the closure date.
Re-opening The library@orchard re-opened on 23 October 2014 at
Orchard Gateway, a new shopping mall built at the site of the old
Specialists' Shopping Centre. The new library is slightly bigger than its predecessor at 1,700 square metres and spans two floors of the mall, described as The Studio and The Loft. 45% of the 100,000 item collection focuses on design and the NLB worked with students and lecturers from
Singapore Polytechnic to develop ideas for the branch, focused as it is on young adults. == Notes ==