Housed within the Gallery's Rotunda, located at the heart of the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery, it is a site of historical importance and now serves as a research hub for the study of art history in Singapore and Southeast Asia.
No prior appointments need to be made or admission tickets need to be purchased to enter the Rotunda Library & Archive. However, users must register at the counter to access the collection.
National Gallery Singapore was established in 2015 as a leading visual arts institution overseeing the world’s largest public collection of Singapore and Southeast Asian modern and contemporary art. Guided by its curatorial vision to present the art histories of Singapore and Southeast Asia; reflexively (re)write the art histories of Singapore and Southeast Asia; and examine these art histories in relation to the global history of art, the Gallery has developed a significant collection of artists’ archives and a reference library focusing on Singapore and Southeast Asian art.
The Gallery’s Rotunda, located at the heart of the UOB Southeast Asia Gallery (Level 3, Supreme Court Wing), is a site of historical importance. During the building’s former life as the Supreme Court of Singapore, the Rotunda served as the Law Library. Housed in this historical space, the Rotunda Library & Archive extends the memory of this site while serving a new function as a research hub for the study of art history in Southeast Asia.
The Rotunda Library & Archive aims to be a leading library housing one of the world’s most comprehensive collections of Singapore and Southeast Asian art-historical resources from the 19th, 20th and 21st centuries.
Their collection currently holds over 20,000 physical and digital items, including rare publications, exhibition catalogues, ephemera and digital archives, made possible through generous donations, publication exchanges with various art institutions in the region, and partnerships with the estates of Southeast Asian modern art pioneers, such as Georgette Chen and Lim Hak Tai (Singapore), S. Sudjojono (Indonesia) and Kalaw Ledesma Foundation (the Philippines).
Most archival acquisitions are conducted through loans or donations from the archives’ owners (artists, artists’ families, estates and art communities). The Library & Archive preserves the donated physical archives and digitises loaned archives.
A large selection of materials in their Library & Archive collection is searchable here (You will be redirected to their Collections Search Portal). Due to copyright restrictions and levels of permission from the archive owners, some items are only available for viewing onsite. You can view these items in the Collections Search Portal with our digital viewing facility at the Gallery’s Rotunda Library & Archive.
Just two months after they've closed their last retail store in Singapore, MPH Bookstores is preparing for their comeback with the launch of a MPH concept store at SingPost Centre.
The new store is expected to open in November.
MPH is expected to move forward with smaller concept stores carrying a large percentage of snacks, beverages, lifestyle products and miscellaneous services alongside their curated book offerings.
The Times Junior store at Jewel Changi Airport is Times Bookstore’s first stand-alone store catering to children. Times Junior takes on a fun and holistic approach towards Education, Creative Learning, Discovery and Interaction.
With merchandise ranging from books, toys, stationery, gifts and accessories - including a dedicated selection of children’s books by Singapore authors - you and your littles ones can look forward to an engaging bonding experience.
The concept store is located at 45 Maxwell Road and it occupies a space of more than 980 sq ft on the ground floor.
There are several unique features of the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop. Firstly, it is the first bookshop here to offer only Singapore books. These are books written about Singapore, books written by Singaporean authors or books published by Singaporean publishers. The bookshop will not only stock books by Epigram, but those from other Singapore publishers, along with URA books and literature – in all, more than 400 titles will be stocked at any one time.
Another unique feature of the coffee bookshop is that one table will be allocated to an author or artist during opening hours. The author/artist can use the space to write or draw, share a drink with customers, or simply use it to gain inspiration. Visitors to the coffee bookshop can also get their books signed by these content creators.
For those seeking a brew (coffee brew, that is) with their books, the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop will serve the full range of speciality coffees by Huggs Coffee, ranging from espresso-based to Sumatra coffees (local-style coffee), along with convenient bites such as pastries, wraps, sandwiches, cakes and sweets, and wholesome lunch sets.
The design of the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop also differs from other book cafes. Facing the coffee counter, for example, is an 11m-long bookshelf that isn’t merely a display area for books, but also lends itself well for Instaworthy moments.
With its location near Maxwell Food Centre and Ann Siang Hill, the Huggs-Epigram Coffee Bookshop makes it an ideal place to be a one-stop shop for readers interested in picking up Singaporean literature, or tourists who want to pick up a memento of Singapore, or those who simply want a good mug of kopi and a good read.
Read local, drink local – it’s time for everyone to hold Singapore in their hands.
Singapore’s latest mall library will open in VivoCity on 12 January 2019, promising book lovers here an exciting new venue with the latest features and services. The public library will offer conducive reading spaces for patrons of all ages set against a splendid view of Sentosa. To fit its location and help patrons locate it easily, the library will be named Library@Harbourfront.
The library, which will be situated at level three of the VivoCity shopping mall, will be conveniently linked to the HarbourFront MRT station, which is connected to the North-East and Circle lines, and the HarbourFront Bus Interchange. “We want our libraries to be as accessible as possible, so that more patrons of all ages can make use of the library to read and learn,” said the National Library Board’s Chief Executive Officer, Mrs Elaine Ng.
The library will be relocated from Bukit Merah Central. The present Bukit Merah Public Library will cease operations from 1 December 2018. After the library has moved out, the community’s grassroots leaders and a few social service organisations will provide a variety of services and programmes at the site. These will include a mini-library and reading corner supported by NLB.
To continue to serve the reading needs of Bukit Merah residents, NLB has also set up another 12 reading corners in the area in the past year. The 12 mini book hubs offer over 5,000 books and 250 seats in total. These corners cater to residents of all ages, from children and students, to adults and seniors.
On top of the reading corners, NLB will look into bringing one of its MOLLY mobile libraries to the area fortnightly, to provide residents with additional books and programmes. With this service, they will be able to borrow and return library books conveniently.
Leading up to library@harbourfront’s opening, residents will also be treated to special preview tours of the new library space. The tours will be held one week before the library officially opens in January 2019, allowing them to have a first look at the new features.
Read more about the new Library@Harbourfront here.
The new Bedok Public Library is among a suite of community services provided at the new integrated complex, Heartbeat@Bedok. It covers an area of 4,150 square metres spread across the 2nd and 3rd storey at Heartbeat@Bedok and serves residents in the South East areas of Bedok North, Bedok Reservoir, Bedok South, Frankel, Kaki Bukit and Kembangan.
The themes of nature, landscape and greenery feature prominently in Heartbeat@Bedok and within the library itself. The pillar wraps, colours and design in the library include landscape elements inspired by nature.
The library will have new services, including an immersive storytelling room for children. There will also be customised reading spaces for patrons of all ages.
The library's new Children’s Zone, will pilot the Stories Come Alive Room. Be ready to step right into a storybook, complete with changing scenes, sounds and animations! Enjoy an immersive storytelling experience when the library re-opens.
A public reading room, a lifestyle gallery shop selling trendy wares from Japan and an Asian contemporary furniture store have brought a slice of style to three conserved shophouse units in Beach Road.
Singapore labels Supermama and Scene Shang, each with its own brand of design, have been attracting furniture and souvenir hunters to the heritage cluster since they moved in earlier this year.
The latest addition to the neighbourhood - the establishments are near the hip Haji Lane and Arab Street enclave - is Looksee Looksee, a reading room with a collection of books curated by Singapore stalwarts in industries such as food and beverage, fashion and design.