National Library, Singapore

National Library
The National Library in Victoria Street, Singapore
1°17′52″N 103°51′15.2″E / 1.29778°N 103.854222°E / 1.29778; 103.854222
Location100 Victoria Street, Singapore 188064, Singapore
TypePublic library
Established1823 (1823)
Branch ofNational Library Board
Other information
DirectorNg Cher Pong, CEO
Lee Seow Hiang, Chairman
Websitewww.nlb.gov.sg
National Library, Singapore
Chinese name
Traditional Chinese國家圖書館
Simplified Chinese国家图书馆
Transcriptions
Standard Mandarin
Hanyu PinyinGuójiā túshū guǎn
Malay name
MalayPerpustakaan Negara
Tamil name
Tamilதேசிய நூலகம்

The National Library is the flagship national library of Singapore. A subsidiary of the National Library Board (NLB), it consists of twin 16-storey blocks, linked by bridges on the upper floors, with three underground basements located on an 11,304-square-metre (121,680 sq ft) prime location in Victoria Street within the Downtown Core.

Costing S$208,000,000 (2005) (US$155,223,881), it is approximately 103 m (338-foot) high with a total gross floor area of about 58,800 m2 (633,000-square-foot), housing more than 2.5 million items in various formats, being physical books and magazines, CD-ROMs, microfiches, newspapers (including 77 foreign daily press) and rare publications, making it the largest public library in Southeast Asia.

The library has 28 regional branches throughout the country such as in Jurong, Tampines and Woodlands as well as affiliations with academic and professional libraries. The branch libraries are open to the general public and consist of circulating libraries. The National Library also consists of research libraries, which are also open to the general public.