Tour gives rare look at how books are readied for library shelves

The distinct scent of thousands of new books fills the air of a warehouse in Changi South.

- Koh Ming Lun

It is not a bookshop but the Library Supply Centre (LSC), where some 3,000 brand new books are catalogued and processed daily. In a year, the volume of materials processed in the warehouse exceeds one million items.

The centre, which spans over 7,000 sq m, serves as the central warehouse and processing facility for the National Library Board's (NLB) network of public libraries across Singapore.

For the first time, the public on Sept 5 got a behind-the-scenes look at how incoming library materials are received and processed before they make their way to the shelves at public libraries.

The tour of the LSC is part of the month-long Love Our Libraries and Archives 2025 festivities celebrating NLB's 30th anniversary. NLB expects about 200 patrons to join six guided tours of the LSC over three separate days. All tours have been fully subscribed.

During the tour, staff will first perform a quality check against the goods receipt to verify that the books purchased are correct and in good condition.