The Beginning and Development of the Raffles Library in Singapore, 1823-1941: A Nineteenth-Century and Early Twentieth-Century British Colonial Enclave

Author: Han, Lim Peng¹

Source: Library & Information History, Volume 25, Number 4, December 2009 , pp. 265-278(14)

Publisher: Maney Publishing

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Abstract:

This article explores the development of the Raffles Library in Singapore, and the role of its founder, Stamford Raffles, from the early nineteenth through to the mid-twentieth century. Throughout the period 1904 to 1938 about 80 per cent of the library's subscribers were Europeans, mostly of British descent, since the book collection consisted of English books. The article will show how the Raffles Library became a colonial enclave, a reading club, or research library for the elite European community and had an impact on the lives of the British colonies in Singapore.

Keywords: SCHOOL LIBRARY; CHILDREN'S LIBRARY; PROPRIETARY LIBRARY; GOVERNMENT LIBRARY; MUSEUM; LIBRARY ASSOCIATION

Document Type: Research article

DOI: 10.1179/175834809X12489649785499

Affiliations: 1: Department of Information Science, Loughborough University, UK;, Email: P.H.Lim@lboro.ac.uk

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