SINGAPORE : The National Library Board (NLB) is in the process of setting up two new libraries. However, details such as the location and date of completion have not been disclosed.

This update was given at the launch of NLB's new mobile library service named MOLLY on Thursday.

With this library on wheels, NLB hopes to tell those who do not frequent its branches that if they cannot come to the library, then the library will come to them.

At Pathlight School, students are encouraged to read as much as possible. But there are only 500 books in the school's library. So along comes MOLLY, bringing along with her nearly 3,000 books.

The mobile library has a total collection of 23,000 books. Books are replenished daily from a location at Jurong. The bus will also run programmes like art workshops, and magic and music performances.

Dr Vivian Balakrishnan, Minister for Community Development, Youth and Sports, said: "MOLLY is really a project for outreach to provide a teaser, a sampler of books, so that we can encourage people who may not otherwise have visited the library to just drop in, take a look, see if there are books they are interested in and get into that habit of borrowing books."

One student said: "I like the mobile library because it's comfortable and I like the books." Another student commented: "I like the information they give."

MOLLY, which was furnished at the cost of S$1 million, comes equipped with a borrowing station and an e-Kiosk that patrons can use to check their library accounts.

Lim Kok Eng, Manager of Public Library Services Group HQ, said: "The mobile library service that we had in the 1960s to the 1990s, all transactions that we did on board the bus were largely manual. If you remember we used the card system. Over on this bus, everything is done through online transactional exchange via the 3.53G mobile broadband network."

Pathlight School is the first of the 30 destinations for MOLLY, which is a pilot project that will run until May next year.

The NLB said Molly will be heading to neighbourhood primary schools and special needs schools.

It will also visit the aged and children in homes, and may also offer its services at community events. Some examples include Macpherson Primary School, Chen Su Lan Methodist Children's Home and Darul Ihsan Orphanage. - CNA/de