National Library Board

The National Library Board (NLB) is the statutory board that runs Singapore's libraries and archives. It was established on 1 September 1995 under the National Library Board Act 1995, and it administers the National Library, the public libraries and the National Archives of Singapore under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (NLB, 26 June 2025). NLB says its libraries and archives reach more than 8 in 10 residents in Singapore through its services, programmes and spaces (NLB — About Us, accessed Oct 2026). NLB is a library-and-archive authority; it does not run school libraries, bookshops or the museums governed by the National Heritage Board.

Statutory basis and functions

The National Library Board Act 1995 (2020 Revised Edition, current as at 14 October 2026) is the statute that establishes and incorporates the board and transfers the National Library to it (Singapore Statutes Online, accessed Oct 2026). Section 3 provides for the establishment of the board; Part 2A (sections 14 to 25) places the National Archives of Singapore and oral history centres under the board; and sections 10 to 12 cover the deposit of library materials, a national union catalogue and interlibrary loan schemes (Singapore Statutes Online, accessed Oct 2026).

NLB's own summary of its functions is: establish libraries such as the National Library and public libraries and administer the National Archives of Singapore (NAS) including the Oral History Centre; promote reading and encourage learning through libraries; provide a repository of library materials published in Singapore; acquire a comprehensive collection of library materials relating to Singapore and its people; provide a repository of archives of national or historical significance and facilitate access to them; conduct records management programmes for the Government, including setting standards and procedures; record, preserve and disseminate the history of Singapore through oral history; and share information on library and archival collections through publications and exhibitions (NLB — Our Role, accessed Oct 2026).

The corresponding powers include requiring deposit of library materials (print and electronic) published in Singapore, requiring public records of national or historical significance to be transferred to NAS, copying online material available on a Singapore website, and charging fees for services and facilities. NLB states that only one set of regulations currently exists under the Act: the NLB (Fees and Charges) Regulations (NLB — Our Role, accessed Oct 2026).

Network and usage figures

NLB describes its network as 28 libraries across Singapore, together with the National Library and the National Archives of Singapore. Its About Us page, last updated 30 April 2025, also states that NLB holds more than 2.6 million digital resources, draws 20.8 million visitors annually, circulates more than 38.8 million library materials annually, and runs 19,000 programmes that attract 2.86 million participants (NLB — About Us, accessed Oct 2026). Those are the figures as published on the corporate page, not a financial-year report; the branch-by-branch list, including the locations of the National Library and the National Archives, is in public libraries.

Administration and strategy

NLB is a statutory board established on 1 September 1995 and sits under the Ministry of Digital Development and Information (MDDI) (NLB, 26 June 2025). Its board and management are appointed under the Act's Schedule, and day-to-day executive leadership rests with the chief executive officer role, whose office-holder speaks for NLB in campaign announcements (NLB, 2 July 2025).

For strategy, NLB runs the Libraries & Archives Blueprint. LAB25, first launched in 2021 as its response to the pandemic and other societal shifts, has continued beyond 2025 as an open-ended "LAB" programme organised around four roles: Learning Marketplace, Reading & Informed Society, Singapore Storytellers, and Equaliser (NLB — LAB, accessed Oct 2026). NLB names the national reading movement and S.U.R.E., its information-literacy programme, as the initiatives powering the reading-and-informed-society role (NLB — LAB, accessed Oct 2026). In 2025 NLB marked its 30th anniversary with a commemorative READ30 edition of Read! Fest (NLB, 2 July 2025).

Where NLB sits in the wider system

Three boundaries matter when routing questions to NLB. The National Archives of Singapore has been part of NLB since 1 November 2012, but archives operations, records management and oral history have their own statute-backed roles described in national archives. Museums, monument gazetting and heritage institutions belong to the National Heritage Board rather than NLB (museums and heritage). Reading campaigns such as the National Reading Movement and the 2026 ReadSG campaign sit inside NLB's reading-promotion work (national reading movement, readsg), while membership tiers, loan rules and library hours belong in public libraries. Because the board's statutory functions cover both libraries and archives — including its duty to require that library materials published in Singapore be deposited with NLB, and to acquire a comprehensive collection of library materials relating to Singapore and its people — questions about Singapore-focused published collections also route to NLB rather than to an individual branch (NLB — Our Role, accessed Oct 2026).