The Libraries of Tomorrow: Creating a seamless, omni-channel experience for reading, learning, and discovery

Last year, our home-grown National Library Board (NLB) Mobile app clinched a gold, silver and bronze award at the Mob-Ex Awards – which celebrates innovative mobile marketing excellence – in three different categories. They were the Best Mobile Growth Strategy, Industry Specific Use of Mobile in Lifestyle & Entertainment, and Government, Utility & Services respectively.?

The awards are encouraging, and also drives us to continue to look at ways to ensure that the app provides easy and seamless access to learning, reading, and discovery. In short, ensuring the user continues to be at the centre of the app’s design and enhancements.

?The app is one of our many initiatives to improve our users’ experience with us, both digitally and at our libraries, by leveraging technology.

As part of our goal to be an omni-channel network of easily accessible services and resources catered to people from all walks of life, while simultaneously increasing the efficiency of our operations both internally and for our users, we have been pushing for timely tech transformations in our libraries.

Adapting to users in the digital age

With the COVID-19 pandemic, the move towards digitalisation has become increasingly important, given the rise in hybrid users who borrow both physical books and eResources.

In 2021, one in two individuals used NLB’s eResources. eBook loans also more than doubled in the last three months of 2021 compared to the first three months of 2020, before Singapore entered the Circuit Breaker period.

Our patrons’ positive response is the fruit of our efforts to nimbly diagnose and adapt to their evolving needs, especially in light of the uncertainty that the pandemic had wrought. When we closed our doors to the public for the first time during Circuit Breaker, we updated our electronic archives to ensure that users continued to have access to a wide range of resources, increasing our number of eBooks by 33 per cent, eDatabases by 30 per cent and eNewspapers by 4 per cent.

Over the years, we have also been exploring ways to work with like-minded partners to expand our eResources. In December 2021, for example, we made Udemy Business, a repository of online learning resources, available for free to all NLB members. It has been well-received with a staggering average of more than 165,000 lectures completed each month.

These efforts to leverage technology are part of our LAB25 (Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025) vision, which aims to foster a lifelong learning ecosystem that transcends physical walls and societal gaps, enhancing patrons’ experiences and more.

Seniors are not excluded from our vision. Our libraries serve as one-stop locations where all seniors are welcome to pick up basic digital skills and have fun with technology. For instance, we introduced our senior-centric programme, MakeIT Time of Your Life, at several libraries in December 2021, which puts a digital spin to traditional arts and crafts through emerging fabrication technologies like 3D printing and digital cutting.

Streamlining the library experience

Now that people can return to our physical libraries, we are also working to improve our on-site capabilities to enhance our users’ experiences.

We recently launched our Grab-n-Go pilot at the National Library Building, which uses RFID technology to allow users to simply scan their NRIC or NLB eCard and pass through a gantry that will automatically check their books out. It is a seamless experience that we hope to bring other locations in the future.

Technology has also allowed us to increase the efficiency of our own operations. For instance, our Shelf-Reading Robots can scan and identify books that have been wrongly sorted, saving librarians the time and labour of having to manually correct such errors on a daily basis. This also benefits our users, who will spend less time searching for books.

We are excited to implement similar initiatives in our upcoming Punggol Regional Library, which is expected to open in early 2023. Here, users can also look forward to our ExperienceIT initiative, an inclusive and immersive showcase that will introduce emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence to them first-hand.?

In these ever-changing times, one thing is for certain. NLB is committed to embracing technology to ensure our initiatives and programmes meet the needs of our users in our digital nation.

Ms Catherine Lau

Assistant Chief Executive Officer, Archives & Libraries Group

National Library Board

#LAB25