MANAGEMENT OF LIBRARIES IN SINGAPORE

Abstract

"The future belongs to countries whose people make the most productive use of information, knowledge and technology. These are now the key factors for economic success, not natural resources." said Prime Minister Goh Chok Tong in his 1993 National Day Message to the people of Singapore. Knowledge has become the most important economic resource. Knowledge and information will be the engines that drive the economy in the 21sl Century. Our economic strategy emphasizes the balanced development of the services and the manufacturing sectors. The services sector is traditionally very knowledge intensive. In manufacturing, products are embedded more and more with knowledge, and specialist knowhow is crucial for effective marketing and distribution. Increasingly, nations and organizations compete on knowledge and information. The deluge of knowledge and information is drowning us. At the same time, knowledge and information are becoming obsolete at an accelerating pace. The problem that has arisen with the emphasis on the knowledge - based economy, is the need for the further improvement of the libraries since they are the source of information providers for the nation. Currently, only 12% are using the library's facilities. In order to increase this, the study aims to explore how the patronage to libraries can be increased taking into account both the technical as well the soft management aspects pertaining to libraries. Also how future libraries can incorporate them so that more and more people will be attracted to use the library and its premises. This work aims to identify what are the key components that are behind the growth of libraries in Singapore and their directions.