Volume 34 Nº 1 - May 1998

International Scene

Co-ordinated by Margaret Butterworth

The Learing Centre at Tampines Regional Library in Singapore

Singapore's Library 2000 Report: Investing in a Leaning Nation, published in 1994, heralded the start of a major overhaul and expansion of the country's public library services. At a time when public spending cuts in many developed countries are severely impacting on library services, Singapore has made a commitment to spend S$1 billion over an eight year period and has embarked upon an expanision plan of massive proportions. This is part of a long term strategy to upgrade and re-skill the workforce by producing a nation of lifelong learners, who can maintain Singapore's competitive edge in the region. As new community libraries open at a rate of two or three a year, we are also seeing an interesting policy of rapid prototying of innovative facilities and services, one of these being the Learning Center at Tampines.

The Centre opended in May 1996 with a significant amount of private sector sponsorship. The seven companies involved are IBM, Lotus, Ernst & Young, Pacific Internet, Silicon Graphics, Sky Media and Times Publishing, a group which as provided most of the hardware and software. With 21 computer terminals and access to overseas and local online databases such as Dow Jones and Reuters, as well at the Internet, and a home page listing useful reference sites, the Centre is attracting a lot of attention. The high level of sponsorship sends an important message that libraries are seen as a key shop window and access point for the dissemination of electronic information. The major providers of commercial information products were all keen to become involved.

Paying for the Learning Centre
In Singapore, nothing is free. In fact, an underlying theory which underpins many pubic policy decisions, is that of co-payment. In other works, the best means of limiting use of a scarce resource is by making the consumers pay a small amount towards it. When the Learning Centre opened, library members had to pay an annual subscription fee of $60 and a registration fee of $10. For students, the fees were $30 and $5 respectively. Six months after opening, membership had reached 650, when the registration system was closed. It appeared that only 20-30% of members were using the Centre regularly, so it was decided to emply a different strategy by simply allowing walk-in users to pay by the hour.

The Booking System
At the moment the library staff has to maintain manual booking sheets and collect the charges, but this will soon be accomplished by technology. In other branches a system known as PANS (Public Access Network Service) is being trialed. This is a terminal which allows the public to do their own automated bookings of all the CD-ROMs and Internet access points. It is particularly popular with children, who line up each morning as soon as the library opens in order to book the prime times for the day. Eventually the system will operate in conjunction with smart cards, which hold a stored value like phone cards, so that the appropriate charge (currently $2 per hour) can be levied. These experiments in charging mechanisms are being used to test the market in terms of how much the public is willing to pay for information. This includes how much parents are willing to pay for their children to stay ahead in the computer literacy race.

Contributions to the International Scene are welcome.
Please contact:
Margaret Butterworth
2/51 Talbot Avenue
Como WA 6152
Phone: 08 9450 7071
margaret@iinet.net.au