Boon Lay void deck community library to close due to complaints, messiness and lack of community effort
A community library at the void deck of a Boon Lay Housing Board block is shutting down, just months after it opened in April.
The library’s founder said complaints, messiness of the place and a lack of community effort to maintain it led to its impending closure.
The founder, who goes by Hengster Kor on Facebook, made the announcement in the Little Libraries Singapore Facebook group on Tuesday.
“I am closing my community library for good. I have a lot of books to be shared to anyone who wants more books or wants to start a community library,” he said, inviting those interested in his library collection to send him a private message on Facebook.
He added that he intends to remove everything by the end of October, after which uncollected books will be disposed of, along with the bookshelves.
The library made news in April when its bookshelves were stolen less than a day after it opened. All the books there were also stolen a day after the shelves were taken, although they were eventually returned.
Members of the group were dismayed at the decision to shutter the library, to which Mr Kor said: “The complaints and the mess that the children make every day, just don’t make sense to maintain the place.”
He also posted a video of a child climbing on the bookshelves. Around the child, books are seen strewn across the floor nearby.
“When you have parents who allow their kids to do this, I think the effort to maintain the place is too much to handle,” he said in the comment thread. He did not elaborate on the complaints about the library.
“It’s supposed to be a community effort, but everyone is waiting for me to do the work.”
“This is a well-written Greek tragedy, bringing us full circle to where we started,” mused Facebook user Robin Rheaume.
The Straits Times has contacted Mr Kor for more information.
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