MUJI is hosting NLB books to create 'Wall of Haikus'

The National Library Board (NLB) has partnered with Japanese lifestyle company MUJI to launch its "Wall of Haikus" campaign. The partnership comes as part of ongoing efforts for the National Reading Movement, and the campaign, which will run until 28 June, aims to engage the community and share the love of reading. NLB worked with creative partner Ogilvy for the campaign.

Chris Koh, programme director of the National Reading Movement, said that it wanted to explore new ways of bringing reading and discovery to more people in this year's edition. "Through our partnership with MUJI to bring haikus and books to people, we hope to inspire everyone to read more, read widely and read together," she said.

Tying up with this year’s theme for the National Reading Movement, "Be Unexpectedly Interesting", the campaign pays homage to the popular Japanese literary culture and encourages reading. As the name of the campaign implies, an in-store installation wall was launched in MUJI's stores at Plaza Singapura and Jewel Changi Airport. The walls featured 30 bookmarks which would each provide shoppers access to a selected ebook or audiobook. 

Each bookmark also depicts a haiku - a Japanese poetic form written in three lines and 17 syllables - which provide clues to the names of the books, ranging from popular fiction and non-fiction, to Singapore literature and more. These bookmarks are available for free for each shopper to pick up, take home and, through the QR codes on the bookmarks, find a book to read too.

NLB said in a statement that the campaign comes as part of its ongoing efforts to make learning and discovery of content more accessible to all. The campaign is also a part of its LAB25 - Libraries and Archives Blueprint 2025. LAB25 is a five-year journey which aims to bring everyone together to reimagine and shape libraries and archives of the future.

Elrid Carvalho, creative director of Ogilvy Singapore, said that haikus are a beautiful part of Japanese culture and being able to highlight them alongside the joys of reading felt like a double discovery. "We want everyone who interacts with the bookmarks to feel a sense of wonder and intrigue, as well as feel inspired by the bookmark designs and the beautifully crafted Haikus, to then go home and download the book and continue their reading journey,” he added.

MARKETING-INTERACTIVE has reached out to NLB for comment. 

Additionally, NLB recently unveiled its initiative to inspire greater appreciation for Singapore’s identity and heritage, with the help of Tribal Worldwide. The first of NLB's LAB25, this initiative will see the creation of colourful installations, treasure hunts and talks, and a digital storytelling website. 

As part of its Places & Perspectives initiative, an experiential showcase will be put up that takes visitors through colourful nooks and crannies to uncover six old icons of Singapore's entertainment landscape in the Bras Basah, Bugis precinct and the Civic District. A light installation at the Level 1 Plaza of National Library Building will be put up, and satellite displays will be made available at three locations in the Civic District: The Arts House, Asian Civilisations Museum and Esplanade Park. These installations, organised in collaboration with National Gallery Singapore (NGS), are part of the Light to Night Festival 2022, a marquee event of Singapore Art Week spearheaded by NGS.

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