Read in todays Sunday Times that the NLB usually sells discarded - TopicsExpress

Read in todays Sunday Times that the NLB usually sells discarded books or donates them to independent libraries or charities, but notwithstanding this and offers to buy the books (e.g. from Selena Tan), NLB still wants to pulp the books recently withdrawn. I think this decision is deeply wrong for a library, and have written to the NLB CEO to express my concern. There is still time to reconsider ... ______________________________ Dear Ms Ng: As an ordinary Singapore citizen, I read with great disappointment in todays Sunday Times that NLB maintains its decision to pulp the books it recently withdrew. I can understand and accept the decision to remove the books from the childrens section. As the Minister, Dr Yacoob Ibrahim, fairly said :NLB has to decide what books should be made readily available to children, who are sometimes unsupervised, in the children’s section of our public libraries. That is a fair and rational explanation. However, this explanation cannot justify the decision to destroy the books. I cannot support or accept as rational the decision by any *library*, let alone our national library, to destroy books, which are in good condition, merely because they are objectionable to some segment of the community, even if that segment represents the majority. I am even more disappointed by NLB maintaining the decision, notwithstanding the public criticism received, that the books are unsaleable and cannot even be given to those to whom it is valuable or wanted (e.g. Ms Selena Tan who has offered to buy the books ...). This prompts me to write to express that sentiment. NLBs action is both: (a) profoundly and seemingly deliberately insulting to the LGBT members of our community, amongst others; and (b) deeply antithetical to the values which a library should seek to uphold. If NLB wants to avoid culture wars, it must, while seeking to uphold the community norms of the majority, exercise some modicum of sensitivity and respect for the views and concerns of the whole community. It must seek to act in a balanced way. NLBs decision to destroy the books fails that test, is profoundly wrong, and should be reconsidered. Thank you for considering my feedback. In criticizing this decision harshly and calling for it to be changed, I recognize the good work that NLB has done in many other things. But at the same time, these good things do not justify an awful decision.