Bandar Seri Begawan - Brunei is set to have a new national library to accommodate the growing reading community in the country, with the Language and Literature Bureau in the process of inviting consultants for feasibility studies, its director said yesterday.
The new library is expected to be located beside the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah School, said Dr Mataim Bakar.
"Our experience with the (libraries) of the other Asean countries and their book fairs have shown that Brunei needs to improve," he told The Brunei Times in an interview.
Building this national library will support the national agenda of producing a knowledgeable society and as a national landmark to boost the tourism industry, he said.
"It will be a symbol of intellectual power, further cementing Brunei as a centre of excellence," he added.
Dr Mataim further said that the library will serve as a motivational tool for the younger generation to visit libraries more often.
"The level of awareness on the importance of reading is increasing but it is still below the standard of other European or Asian countries such as Japan and Korea," he said.
He attributed this increase of awareness to parents who understand the importance of reading.
"Our children will be responsible for bringing the country forward, that is why we have to feed them quality education," the director said.
He added that it was a necessity for the country to develop better reading habits. "Reading is knowledge and knowledge is a powerful tool for the development of a society," he said.
Dr Mataim and Chief Librarian of the Language and Literature Bureau Hj Sahari Hj Nassar, said that the new library will not only house a large collection of local and international books, but also a range of other services such as an ICT room, an Audio-Visual Room, a National Heritage Information Centre, a theatre and a children`s corner.
They also spoke of a new online network system which will link the national library to other libraries around the world, enabling users to obtain more information from across the world. "This will provide the users with a larger variety of more advanced books," said Hj Sahari.
Other plans of improving the country`s reading culture include the construction of a library in every government housing area and the implementation of an electronic library and electronic book system as part of the e-government proposal.
Dr Mataim said that the idea to build a new national library received strong support from the Department of Economic Planning.
However, the director did not give a timeline or mention the allocated budget for the national library. By Melvin Jong
Source:
http://www.brudirect.com (December 18, 2008)