Love comics? NLB launches first pop-up manga library at City Square Mall

The National Library Board (NLB) has launched its first manga library in City Square Mall for Manga fans to enjoy over 5,000 related titles at their convenience. 

The six-month pop-up will feature a host of wildly popular titles such as Spy x Family, Dragon Ball Z, Assassin’s Creed: Blade Of Shao Jun and the Pokemon Adventures. It will also play host to local comics such as Mr Kiasu, Roti Kaya and Guyu and The LKY Story which will be available for borrowing. 

The local comics were donated by local comic book collectors, according to a Facebook post by NLB. The manga titles on the other hand were donated in part by Japanese publisher Shogakukan Asia, according to NLB when MARKETING-INTERACTIVE reached out. The publisher reportedly will donate more titles in the future.

The manga library is located on the fourth floor of City Square Mall and will also see a collection of rare, local comics on display that will not be for borrowing or browsing. These titles reportedly include Bookworm Gang Adventures and Captain V, Singapore’s first full-colour comic.

NLB’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr Ng Cher Pong, said: “The new Grab-n-Go library is part of our LAB25 plans to grow our Learning Marketplace by progressively expanding the network of touch-points for patrons to get NLB’s books and resources even more easily.”

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According to NLB's Facebook post, the library will also incorporate a grab-n-go concept which is part of NLB’s LAB25 Learning Marketplace efforts to collaborate with partners to bring more reading, learning and discovery opportunities to readers everywhere.

The grab-n-go concept is one where readers can check in and check out automatically simply by using their NRIC cards or their NLB eCards. Books that are being borrowed will then automatically appear on a screen where the loan will be confirmed after a reader scans their identification card. 

A confirmation email will then be sent to the reader's email address. Patrons can borrow up to eight books at one go. 

The Grab-n-Go service is part of NLB’s ongoing efforts to systematically rejuvenate local libraries to better serve patrons, according to NLB. "NLB will continue to explore collaborations with partners, including mall operators, publishers, to set up more Grab-n-Go libraries around Singapore. With an automated checkout process that makes borrowing books more convenient for patrons, NLB hopes to roll out more Grab-n-Go systems in time to enable NLB libraries and archives to be the go-to learning marketplace," said NLB.

The Manga library will also be staffed by a Mr Kiasu robot that was created by NLB in collaboration with a local robotics company, Dex-Lab. The robot will be able to guide readers on how to borrow books and will also provide recommendations. 

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