I always have this thought in my mind.
"How would the library ever survive and still continue to bring in new books, and the libraries are also becoming bigger and better when books are rented out free to ALMOST every singaporean?"
this question has bugged me ever since i became a young and loyal bookworm of a library located near my house. i remembered i used to own many books, i began to start out a 'rental service' to my fellow young neighbours who wanted to borrow my books. i became a librarian in the neighbourhood on the 8th of my HDB estate. i didnt know why but the interest was there to play many many games with your fellow mates and the usual ones had already began to bore me so i decided to set up a library in my home. my parents home actually.
when i grew up, i think i would relate the libraries survival would probably be due to the fact that it's under government funding. i still haven't got any proof but i think i'm more likely correct.
ever since my interest in islam grew, one of the reasons of visiting the library was to find some good books about islam. and amazingly, the books i saw were of good material and content. they were informative and useful. some books also covered basic understanding of the religion which are relatively important when everyone now has misunderstood islam.
last week, i borrowed 3 books from the library. one of it was intended for my mum. because the book covered basic questions about the concept of islam and terrorism. but unfortunately, after i had finished with it, i was left with 8days to let her finish. hurrily, i left a note and placed it together with the book, telling her to read in her leisure. but i noticed that she had left it untouched for several days. as the due was approaching, i took the book back. the next day, she asked me for the book because she said she was beginning to be less busy. Hahaa... i told her i had to get it back because i was afraid of leaving that out when i had to return the books on time.
when i returned the books back one day later, i saw another book titled 'world faiths: Islam' displayed in the 'NEW' section. decided to borrow that for my mum again. that book was great too because it has more pictures and covers more topics than the previous one, in a more positive manner.
too bad, the library doesnt do any trade in or selling of their books. i enjoyed this particular book so i kept renewing. i wonder if binding and recopying of the whole book is allowed or not??
2 comments:
Hi, to answer your first question of how the library can survive and expand when it "rent books out for free": First, this service is not to "almost" every Singaporean. It's to ALL Singaporeans who register. The public library "survives" like any service funded by taxes from the people -- so long people are still paying taxes AND more important, the people show that they are using libraries, then it will continue to grow. In simple terms, the more that Singaporeans use the public library, the more likely it will grow (so help spread the word!).
As for your other question on binding and copying of the whole book, that's not allowed under Singapore's copyright laws. Even if you make copies for personal use, you can only copy up to 10%. For more information, contact IPOS.
thanks to ivan,i've saved my arse for not going against any copyright laws.
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