NUS apologises for 'operational lapse' in dealing with books from Yale-NUS College library
Hundreds of books from the Yale-NUS College library were reportedly sent for disposal or recycling on Tuesday, triggering an outcry from its alumni and students.
Bags of books placed outside a building at the Yale-NUS College campus, and the bags seen on a truck, on May 20, 2025.
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SINGAPORE: The National University Singapore (NUS) on Wednesday (May 21) apologised for an "operational lapse" in dealing with books from Yale-NUS College, which is shutting this year.
Hundreds of books from the Yale-NUS College library were reportedly sent for disposal or recycling on Tuesday, triggering an outcry from its alumni and students.
Photos and videos showed books packed into trash bags and loaded onto a truck from a recycling company.
Responding to CNA's queries on Wednesday, Associate Professor Natalie Pang, University Librarian of NUS, said that in maintaining the library collection, excess books are "routinely rehomed" in other libraries or given away to faculty members, and sometimes to students.
"Books which are not taken up are then sent for recycling, in line with common library practices," she added.
In the case of the books from the Yale-NUS College Library, the majority of the books were moved to other NUS libraries, Assoc Prof Pang said, adding that the excess books were offered only to faculty members, and not students.
"We understand later that many students were interested in having these books and we would have usually acceded to their requests," she said. "We did not do so on this occasion and we apologise for the operational lapse."
Assoc Prof Pang said that given the "strong interest" from students, the university is now organising a giveaway on campus.
"Going forward, we are reviewing our process and will take proactive steps to distribute excess books to the NUS community and the wider public so that they can benefit as many people as possible," she said.
NUS did not say what happened to the books that were seen being loaded onto a recycling truck.
An employee from the recycling company Green Orange Enviro told CNA on Wednesday that the books had been recycled. He said NUS reached out to the company at around 3pm on Tuesday to stop the recycling, but it was already too late.
The books were recycled at an Asia Recycling Resources facility, an employee who wanted to be identified as Mr Chua told CNA on Wednesday.
According to a Yale-NUS student, he saw around five students gathering around a truck from Green Orange Enviro at about noon on Tuesday.
Around 50 bags were packed on the truck with around 10 to 20 books each, said Mr Lee, who asked to be identified by his last name only.
Two employees from the recycling firm were present alongside two NUS staff members and were engaged in a heated discussion with students who had gathered, the 24-year-old student told CNA.
"They were arguing with the other students who were there, basically saying, 'You can't touch these books. These books are slated for disposal, you cannot keep these books. They're not to be donated, they're to be disposed of.”
An NUS librarian later arrived and told the students the university had “no choice” but to dispose of the books because they were given a short runway by the NUS law faculty and NUS campus infrastructure administrators to clear the library books.
Yale-NUS College is set to shut this year, with its last cohort of students graduating in May 2025.
NUS’ law faculty, which is currently located at the university’s campus in Bukit Timah, will move into the college’s premises later this year.
STUDENT AND ALUMNI RESPONSE
After videos and photos of the books began circulating, members of the Yale-NUS community rallied to think about how to salvage them, said Yale-NUS alumnus Chloe Ang.
Students at the scene attempted to take a few of the bags while others who witnessed the situation online started contacting the relevant companies, NUS personnel and media outlets, she told CNA on Tuesday.
“Gradually, more facts rolled in, which were provided with clarification by the staff working at the Yale-NUS Library.”
According to an earlier LinkedIn post by Ms Ang, the books being disposed of were mostly duplicates to make space for the incoming Law Library. They ranged from brand-new books to out-of-print books and those written by faculty members.
The library staff said the books couldn’t be donated due to RFID tags or transferred to other NUS libraries, she wrote.
“Crucially, the librarians were given insufficient notice to ‘dispose of the books adequately’. This resulted in the incredible amounts of wastage we witnessed today,” she added.
